When My Life Begins
by AndNowWeDance
Summary: "He envied the young princesses. He longed for a sense of danger and excitement, for the chance to travel to exciting new places, for a chance to know what it was like to have an adventure. He'd have to ask Grandmother Gaea to buy him more storybooks next time she left the tower." Solangelo Tangled AU.
1. Salutáris de Lumine

_And they lived happily ever after. The End._

The boy closed the book and stared down at the familiar cover, the title written out in shining gold print. _Dornröschen_. Sleeping Beauty, Little Briar Rose. He'd lost track of how many times he'd read the story of how the beautiful maiden pricked her finger on a spinning wheel and awoke from the curse with true love's kiss.

The story was almost always the same. A destitute young woman with an unfulfilled need for adventure and romance meets the man of her wildest fantasies and finally finds the happiness she so long searched for. Add in a few plot twists or a character death here and there, and you had yourself a worthwhile fairytale. Belle et la Bête, Cenerentola, Schneewittchen. The same old story, just told in different languages and settings. Yet he couldn't get enough of them.

He envied the young princesses. He longed for a sense of danger and excitement, for the chance to travel to exciting new places, for a chance to know what it was like to have an adventure. Instead, he was destined to live a life of loneliness, all because of his parentage and the stupid prophecy.

His jealousy over the lives of fictional people amazed him sometimes. The only way to quell this jealousy was to read more stories. He'd have to ask Grandmother Gaea to buy him more storybooks next time she left the tower.

"Will, come here a moment, I need your help!"

Speaking of Grandmother Gaea.

Will Solace placed Sleeping Beauty back on the shelf next to his other stories and made his way down the stairs. He dragged his hands across the railings, which were covered in paint and pencil markings from his childhood. There were various drawings and sketches all over the walls and furniture of the tower, though none of them were very good. Art wasn't exactly his forte, but it helped cure his boredom. He hopped the last step and sauntered into the small kitchen area where his grandmother stood.

She was quite a beautiful woman, considering her age. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back in waves. Her face was free of wrinkles. A green knit shawl hung loosely around her shoulders as she chopped vegetables for lunch. Even while doing mundane tasks like cooking, she always looked stunning. Existing as an immortal being capable of changing her appearance with a simple thought made looking young and beautiful an easy task.

"Yes, Grandmother?" Will asked sweetly, leaning against the counter.

"My hand slipped while chopping these carrots, could you help with this cut?" she thrust her open palm towards him, revealing a cut that was about two inches long, a half-inch deep, and bleeding profusely.

Will's smile fell. "Oh. That's all?"

"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry to bother you if you were busy, but I don't want to leave the soup to burn to go get a bandage."

"You really should be more careful." Will sighed. "I feel like I've been fixing tiny little cuts and bruises and burns constantly."

"You should be happy to help me, after everything I've done for you," she said carefully. Her face showed the barest hint of a frown. She didn't get angry often, but when she did, it was obvious.

"I _am_ happy to do it. I'm sorry if that was disrespectful. Here, give me your hand."

After seventeen years, this had become routine. He took her hand in his and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and singing out the lines of an ancient Latin hymn. Immediately, Gaea's hand was surrounded by a glowing gold aura and the bleeding stopped. Seconds later, the wound closed completely as the aura faded and Will held out the last notes of his song.

Gaea sighed contently and ruffled Will's curly blonde hair with her newly-healed hand. "You're such a gift."

"Speaking of gifts..." Will figured this was a good opportunity if any. "Next time you're in town can you get me some new books?"

The small frown appeared for a moment again before Gaea regained her peaceful composure. "What's wrong with the ones you have?"

"Nothing, Grandmother. I love the books you've given me, really. I just want a few more."

"Hm," she considered this for a moment. "Well, I didn't have any plans to make that trip any time soon."

"Maybe I could go get them myself?"

Gaea stopped stirring the soup and dropped her spoon. "Will, we've discussed this. It's not-"

"Not safe," he finished. "Because of the prophecy. I know."

The prophecy. Will hated it every time the prophecy was brought up in conversations, because there was no negotiating it. _When turned eighteen shall see the light, a loss most wrong to set things right. _His eighteenth birthday was quickly approaching, which only made the prophecy's threat more imminent. He'd been kept safe inside his isolated home with his grandmother for as long as he could remember to prevent this prophecy from coming to pass. He couldn't risk losing the one thing that made him special, his gift of healing.

His grandmother had a list of rules she'd drilled into his head for years.

_Don't ever leave the tower. There are people out there who will use you and hurt you. _

_Don't ever let anyone know of your power. It's too strong and too dangerous. _

_Don't ever associate with the Gods. They don't like our kind. They won't like you because you're too powerful. They will try to kill you, given the chance._

More than anything, Will blamed the Olympians. It's the fault of the twelve gods on Mount Olympus that his life was so unfulfilled. He'd been told the story countless times when he was young.

_"You're a very special little boy, Will. Do you know why that is?" _His grandmother would ask him.

_"Because I was born from daddy's sacrifice." _He'd always reply.

The war was the reason he was here. Titans versus Gods. Grandmother had told him countless times of how his 'father', Helios, was wounded in battle, and how the golden ichor that bled from his wounds fell to the earth and created him. His special circumstances from his birth were the reason behind his healing gift.

Calling Helios his father had just become a formality after the issuing of the prophecy, which referred to him as the child of the sun. Helios wasn't truly Will's father, he knew that much. He had no real parents. He'd simply come into existence with the help of Gaea's magic. He had no father, no mother, and because of the stupid prophecy, no freedom.

_Of gold from the Gods shall a hero rise..._

He was no hero, not in his eyes. He was just another kid. Nothing special. And since he could never leave, since he would never be free from the confinement of his home, the prophecy could never come true. His healing was too powerful, and the Gods didn't like it when mortals were as powerful as them. On top of that, his death by the hands of the Gods would be revenge for the war. So he was trapped here forever. Maybe it was better that way.

Some may think that the story of Will's life could be considered the thing of fairytales. He thought it was more the subject of nightmares.

"I suppose I could make a trip into town," Gaea said finally. "What kind of books did you have in mind?"

"Something fun," he said. "Something exciting. I could use an adventure."

* * *

><p>"Reyna, be careful!"<p>

Reyna was violently yanked back from the ledge, being pulled by her braid. She would have yelped out in pain if Nico's hand hadn't immediately clamped over her mouth to silence her. If they were discovered, it would ruin everything.

She turned to face the younger boy and her eyes met his shoulder before she remembered to glance up. Reyna and Nico had been working together for years, ever since they met on the streets in their early teens. Now Nico was older and a foot taller than he was when they'd first met, so Reyna had to get used to making adjustments to glare at him.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. "I really appreciate having all of my hair follicles forcefully ripped out."

"You're welcome," he rolled his eyes in her direction before shimmying his way across the edge of the roof and hopping to the ground, landing safely in the dark alleyway. He got as close as he dared to the street and peeked around the corner, scoping out his surroundings.

He grimaced, taking note of the villagers scattered through the streets. "Why are there so many people out today?"

"What's the date again?"

"June fourteenth, why?"

"The summer solstice is next week." Reyna said, pointing out the bright gold banners being hung from the streetlights. The cobblestone walkways of the small European town were strewn with confetti and streamers. Children ran through the streets chasing one another and popping balloons. "They're planning the ceremony for Apollo's lost son."

"That kid that was kidnapped by Gaea?" Nico moved away from the curb and retreated back into the shadows.

"Yeah. The twenty-first is his birthday. According to legend, Apollo blesses everyone who puts any effort into finding him. Although knowing Lord Apollo he probably just hires someone else to do it because he's 'busy'."

Nico huffed, sitting down on the ground and pulling a water bottle from his bag. "Lucky kid, having parents who actually care about him. Good to know if he's ever found he'll have a family to come back to."

Nico didn't like mentioning his family. Reyna had known him for two years before he finally told her the story of how Zeus murdered his mother and he and his sister Bianca were pulled out of time and forced to readjust to the 21st century. It took him another six months after that to tell the story of how Bianca died on a quest to save another demigod, and another month after that to talk about how Hades always favored Bianca and never really cared for Nico. It was one of the most heartbreaking stories Reyna had ever heard, and she had her own fair share of issues with her family.

"We don't need a family. We have each other," Reyna offered her hand. "Now come on, we have a mission to finish."

Nico definitely hadn't been looking forward to this particular mission. He and Reyna had pulled off countless heists before, but this was on bigger scale than anything they'd done before. Quite literally, since this time they were planning to steal a forty-foot-tall statue. He'd felt guilty at first, but then he realized he wasn't really stealing as much as he was taking back what rightfully belonged to his people.

He wasn't really sure why he'd even decided to go through with this plan. His _people _shunned him and hated him. He'd been abandoned and left out, especially so since Bianca died. Retrieving the Athena Parthenos and taking it to Camp Half-Blood was his last-ditch effort to be accepted again. He just hoped it would work.

Nico re-packed his bag and tossed it onto his shoulder, standing and taking Reyna's hand. She immediately went into her disguised-persona, clutching Nico's hand and stumbling out of the alley, giggling like the little girl.

"Come on, I want to show you the gelato stand over here!" she pretended to be extremely excited, tugging Nico along. He'd probably never get used to her acting like this when they needed to seem inconspicuous. They'd used the 'innocent teenage couple exploring the town' ruse countless times and it always diverted attention. They'd gotten away with their biggest robberies using this method.

At first, it had made him extremely uncomfortable to act this way with Reyna, despite the fact that they both knew it was just acting. He found it hard to pretend to love a girl in any way but platonically, especially Reyna, since she was practically his sister. But they'd both gotten used to it, and Nico's fake smile was almost as wide as Reyna's.

"Slow down, I'm sure there's enough fancy ice cream to go around," he laughed.

Five minutes later, Nico was handing the bored cashier woman euros over the counter in exchange for two small cups of gelato. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Reyna sitting at a table right outside of the gate surrounding the temple where the Athena Parthenos was being hidden away. No one nearby noticed her nonchalantly picking a lock with her hand beneath the table. She used her free hand to wave to him as he walked towards her.

"You got it?" he asked.

"Almost," she replied. "It was trapped with 3000 volts of electricity, but I was able to disable it. Did you get chocolate or vanilla?"

"Chocolate. Your favorite," as he sat down, he heard a faint clicking noise as Reyna opened the lock. The easiest part of their day was done.

"Perfect," she smirked, putting both hands on top of the table and digging into her frozen treat. "And now we wait."

The two traveled best in the dark. Night would fall soon enough. They passed time by discussing their plan: Reyna would cause a diversion long enough for Nico to get to the statue and shadow jump the both of them and the Athena Parthenos somewhere far enough where they wouldn't be found. From there they would improvise, eventually making their way to Long Island Sound. Occasionally they'd hold hands over the table or Nico would feed Reyna spoonfuls of his gelato, looking completely natural. No one suspected a thing, and by midnight, they were alone in the plaza.

"Now or never," Nico muttered, "let's go steal a statue."

* * *

><p>"Don't go running off while I'm gone," Gaea advised Will, tying her shawl tighter around her shoulders.<p>

"I never do," he replied, as usual. "I'll be waiting right here, like always."

"Three books, you sure that's all you need?" she asked.

Will nodded. He'd specified his want for more fairytales. "That's all. You'll only be gone for a day, right?"

"I'll be back this time tomorrow, promise."

Will finished packing a small bag full of food rations for a few days, just in case. He handed it to his grandmother, who gratefully accepted it before kissing him on the forehead. "Be good while I'm gone."

"How bad could I possibly be?"

She smiled at him one last time before walking out, closing and locking the door behind her. Her footsteps slowly faded out as she descended the seemingly endless stairway, finally making her way out at the base of the tower.

Will's happy mood immediately deflated. He sunk into the nearest chair, sighing and staring out of the window. The entire world was mere feet away, and he was stuck inside forever.

He could stare out of that same window for hours, losing track of time while longing for a chance to know what it was like out there. He'd never even been allowed to open the window.

It'd probably be difficult, then, to explain to Grandmother Gaea how the window suddenly shattered into thousands of pieces as a large white marble statue crashed into the side of the house.

Will barely avoided the falling debris. A ten-foot long section of the right wall of the house completely broke apart, revealing the pitch-black sky and letting a cool summer breeze flow through the front entryway. He stood up, tiptoeing his way around broken brick and glass, standing on his toes to look outside.

It was his first real experience of the outside world in nearly eighteen years. And it was ruined by two unwanted guests. On the ground, at the base of the statue, sat two dark haired, disheveled, and breathless teenagers. The boy stared up at Will in silence, as if debating whether or not he should run away before facing any consequences. The girl was too busy focusing on the fact that her leg was pinned beneath the heavy stone. She cried out in pain.

"Who are you?" Will spoke carefully, "And why is your giant statue in my backyard?"

* * *

><p>"Did you really never think of breaking down the door?"<p>

"Um, no..." Will said. "The door was locked for a reason. Grandmother wouldn't be happy if I left without her permission."

_She also wouldn't be happy if I let people inside without her permission_, Will thought. Yet there he stood, making direct eye contact with the boy who had crashed into his home. The dark-haired teenager stood in the doorway, the wooden door splintered where he'd kicked it in a few moments prior. He carried his female companion in his arms, where she winced in pain as her broken ankle hung loosely.

Will couldn't help but stare. They both looked uncared for, thin and tired - and in the boy's case, extremely pale. Street kids. Exactly the kinds of people Grandmother had told him to avoid should he ever come in contact with them. And instead he was welcoming them into his private space.

The other boy groaned. "Are you just going to stand there gaping or are you going to help?"

"Oh," Will blinked and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Right. Sorry. You can put her down here."

He pulled a chair from the kitchen table closer to the girl and helped her sit down. The boy walked away and began flinging open cabinets and drawers.

"Could you please not touch that?" Will asked.

"Depending on how bad that break is in Reyna's ankle, it may never heal if I don't work on it immediately," The boy glared at Will again, "so I'll touch whatever I want."

"Nico, don't be so rude," the girl - Reyna - scolded him. "I'll be fine, really. We need to get moving again."

"The guards are after us, if they catch up you need to be able to run on your own."

Will interrupted, "The guards?"

"You know, big scary guys with weapons who watch over stuff?" Nico said, pulling a bandage from the kitchen drawer.

"I know what guards are, but why are they after you?"

Nico and Reyna exchanged confused looks.

"Don't you recognize that giant statue sitting in your yard right now?"

"I'm sorry," Will frowned, "I can't say I do." He didn't know much of anything, which made him feel stupid. His knowledge was limited to the things he found in his books and within the tower walls. And Grandmother didn't seem to enjoy telling stories about the outside world very much.

"It doesn't matter," said Reyna, attempting to stand up. She whimpered slightly as she leaned against the chair for support. Nico immediately ran to her side and forced her back into the chair.

"I should have been more careful on that jump," Nico muttered to himself. "Sit still, I'll be done in a minute." He began wrapping the bandages around her foot. She winced in pain.

Will could tell Nico wasn't very good at treating injuries, the way he sloppily wrapped her foot and didn't bother to set the bone back in place first.

"Here, let me help," he offered.

Nico didn't even look up. "You've been help enough."

"Please... just trust me."

Nico slowly looked Will over once, then moved out of the way.

"This is just going to hurt for a second, okay?" Will warned Reyna. She gave him a small nod and braced herself as he moved the bone back into place.

He sighed, hesitating for a moment. He was about to break another one of his grandmother's rules: _don't let anyone know about your special talents. They'll take advantage of you. _But Nico seemed insistent on leaving as soon as possible, and there was no way they'd be able to leave with Reyna injured like this. Will reasoned that it would be okay just once. The sooner they got out, the better it would be for everyone.

He clasped his hands around Reyna's ankle and began quietly singing, "_Flos nitor fulgorque et fulgeat, protenduntur potestatem_..."

The glowing aura illuminated the shocked expressions on Nico and Reyna's faces. As Will sang out the last notes of his hymn and the light died out, the three sat in silence. Reyna slowly rotated her ankle, which had healed completely.

"How-?" she began, but Will cut her off.

"I don't know. But please don't mention it to anyone. You two should really be going."

Nico and Reyna exchanged another glance. He pulled her off to the side and they stood, heads ducked, in hushed conversation. Reyna shook her head. A few seconds later, Nico gestured back to Will and nodded.

Meanwhile, Will grew extremely agitated, playing with the frayed edges of his shirt to keep himself busy. Finally, the pair turned and faced him.

"How long have you been up here?" Nico asked.

"Uh... forever," Will replied with a shrug. "I've never left before. Grandmother won't let me."

Reyna looked confused. She glanced at Nico, who raised an eyebrow at her, as if daring her to say another word.

"Do you _want_ to leave?" asked Reyna, who didn't seem at all threatened by Nico. "The door is wide open, though you might have to fix that broken doorknob later. We could use someone as talented as you."

The suggestion surprised him. Then it slowly dawned on him, " You're thieves aren't you? The guards are after you because you stole that statue. I should tell grandmother to turn you in. Why do you think I should help you?"

Nico began to unsheathe the obsidian-dark sword at his side, but Reyna pushed his hand aside and glared, as if she were saying _'No, Nico, no death threats just yet.' _

"Because," she began, "quite honestly, we need you. I can't risk another injury. And this would give you a chance to get out of the house. To be free. That's what you want, isn't it?"

To be free. Those words held a lot of power to Will. There was no way it could be that easy, that convenient. Perfect situations always had to come with a catch. He'd read enough stories to know that happily ever afters weren't accomplished without a fight first.

"And when you get that statue wherever it's going, you're just going to dump me somewhere and be done with me, right?"

"Yeah, probably," said Nico.

"No, we will _not_," said Reyna. "Listen, kid. What was your name again?"

"Will Solace."

"Will, this is really important to us. It could change our lives for the better. You'd be a real help to us. Please?"

Will looked Reyna over. Her posture was nearly perfect, despite the fact that she couldn't stand up only moments prior. She stood with her head held high and confident, but her eyes pleaded desperately. Her hands shook slightly and the quiver of her lip was barely noticeable, but it was there.

Nico, however, was completely different. He nonchalantly leaned against the chair, glancing at Will, looking wholly disinterested. His dark hair fell in his face, just short enough to show the dark circles under his eyes. His face looked as if it had been fixed in a permanent frown for years.

If he said yes, these would be the people to give him his first taste of freedom. They weren't exactly a handsome prince and his noble steed riding in to save the day. But an adventure was an adventure, and the unfamiliarity of it all excited him. There was just one more thing to consider.

"Grandmother Gaea wouldn't want me leaving the house," Will explained. "She told me to stay here for my safety. I can't disobey her."

Nico's face paled even more, which Will thought was impossible. Reyna's eyes widened.

"Did you say Gaea?" she asked.

"Yes," he was confused. "What's wrong? You both look like you've seen a ghost."

Nico shook his head. "Ghosts aren't all that bad. What you just said, though... we need to get you out of here. Now."

Without another word, Nico grabbed Will by the shirtsleeve and tugged him towards the stairs. Reyna began pillaging through the drawers and cabinets, packing her bag full of anything she thought was necessary. They both worked silently, as if they'd kidnapped teenage boys and ransacked their homes countless times before.

"I don't understand, what's going on?" Will asked, pulling himself from Nico's grip. "Don't I deserve an explanation?"

Nico whirled around to face him. "A lot of people are going to get hurt, possibly killed, if we don't get you and this statue as far away from Gaea as possible. That's all the explanation you need. Now come on."

Will stepped back. "Why should I believe that?"

"Will, don't you think it's a bit odd that you're nearly an adult an you've been locked up your whole life? What kind of grandparent would do that?" Reyna asked.

"She was just protecting me. From people who would hurt me or use me for my healing power."

_People like you_, Will thought but didn't dare to say out loud.

"Please, believe me," Reyna pleaded. "It's better if you leave here. Besides, you want to leave, don't you?"

He couldn't deny that. He wanted to leave more than anything. But it could have catastrophic consequences. He could set the prophecy in motion. Or worse, he could anger his grandmother. He hated it when she got angry.

It was a risk he was willing to take.

"Just let me grab something," he said before bolting up the stairs.

It was right where he'd left it that morning. He carefully slipped Sleeping Beauty off the shelf and protectively hugged the book to his chest as he made his way back downstairs.

"I'm ready."

Nico looked over at him and grimaced. "A storybook, really?"

Will ducked his head in embarrassment, hugging his book closer to him. "I'm sorry, I know it's stupid. But it's my favorite story."

"I, for one, happen to think that's really sweet that you'd think to bring it along with you," Reyna said. "Nico still carries a plastic toy around, so he shouldn't be one to talk-"

"Reyna!"

The pair glared at each other. Will was curious, but thought it would be better not to ask.

Reyna was the one to break the silence. "Anyway, we've got a job to do. Here," she tossed a bag full of supplies at Will's feet, "you can fit your book in there too. Should be enough to get us where we're going."

Will opted to keep the book in his hands, tossing the bag over his shoulder with his free arm. "Where exactly is that?"

"Long Island Sound, New York City," she grinned. "It's just across the Atlantic Ocean, about five thousand miles away. Don't worry, we'll get you back in time for breakfast in a week."

If grandmother didn't kill him, these two surely would.


	2. Flos Nitoris Fulgorisque

"What's this?"

"It's called moss. It grows on trees."

"Oh. And this?"

"It's a calla lily. A type of flower."

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of those. Oh, and what about that over there?"

"That's a wasp nest. I wouldn't get too close if I were-"

"Ow! I think it bit me."

"It stung you, actually. Here, let me take care of that."

Nico groaned, burying his head in his knees. It had been less than twelve hours and he was already ready to dump both Will and Reyna into the nearest ditch and shadow jump as far away as possible. If it weren't for the fact that the afternoon sun ruined the chance of any shadows appearing and he was still recovering from the jump away from the tower, he would have done just that.

"No, it's fine," Will said, bringing his thumb to his mouth and kissing it. The wound instantly healed.

"Wow," Reyna breathed. "It's going to take me a while to get used to that. So you don't have to sing the incantation every time?"

Will shrugged and grinned at her. "Nope. Only for really bad injuries. For smaller things, doing this actually works better." It felt odd openly talking about his powers and showing other people how it worked. He was going against everything grandmother had ever taught him. It was both exhilarating and terrifying.

"That's amazing. Isn't this great, Nico?"

"Greatly annoying, yes," Nico muttered. "We have two hours until sunset when we can travel again. Try not to get yourselves murdered in that time. Reyna, can you scope out the area? I'd do it myself but I'm still tired from that last jump."

"Sure thing," Reyna mock-saluted to him and set off into the trees.

Nico sighed and slumped back against the Athena Parthenos, closing his eyes. The sounds of birds and small woodland animals would have quickly lulled him to sleep were it not for the incessant sound of shuffling and pacing a few feet away.

"So..." Will bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet. "That shadow travel thing you do. That's pretty cool."

Nico opened one eye and looked at Will. "Is that your attempt at small talk?"

"Um... yes? I'm sorry, I just really don't like silence. There's been too much of it in my life."

"So talk," Nico fully opened his eyes and sat up. "You've got some freaky power explaining to do too." He patted the space next to him on the base of the statue and Will happily obliged, sitting next to him.

He'd never even talked to anyone other than his grandmother, and now he had two traveling companions who could possibly become his friends if he played his cards right. The whole experience was odd. He didn't know what to expect from them.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it," Will admitted. "But I guess I've broken enough rules today that it won't really weigh on my conscience too much. What do you want to know?"

"How does it work?"

Will frowned. "You've already seen how it works. And I just told Reyna. I can kiss small wounds and they heal instantly. For more serious injuries, I sing the hymn. There's this kind of wave I feel in my hands when whole glowing aura thing happens, and I can feel the other person's body pulling itself back together. Like it's harnessing strength from me. But it doesn't affect me at all."

"And you never wondered where this power came from?"

"Grandmother told me I was born from the ichor from Helios' wounds. That, along with her blessing, brought me to life and gave me my power."

Nico looked skeptical. "I've only ever heard of demigods having these kinds of powers."

Demigods were almost as bad as the Gods themselves. He'd heard the stories of rogue demigods using their powers for evil and trying to overthrow the Gods, and worse, demigods working together with the Gods to try to destroy the Titans.

Will shook his head, refusing to scare himself more with the thought of being associated with them. "I'm not a demigod."

"From what your _grandmother_ told you, no, you're not a demigod. But I have a feeling she's told you a lot of things that aren't exactly true," Nico shrugged.

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that you may not know what you're talking about."

"Are you saying grandmother was lying to me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Nico slumped against the statue again.

"Well you're wrong," Will crossed his arms. "I have proof."

Nico waited for an explanation and was met with silence. He looked over to where Will sat, trying to look as serious and stern as possible. He looked more like a puppy dog trying to assert his dominance. Nico had to bite back a smirk. "And what proof do you have?"

"I can't say."

Nico wanted to slam his head against the marble statue. It had to be less painful than the current conversation he was having.

"Fine. Don't tell me. But you're not who you think you are."

"Tandem puer solis liberari," Will muttered.

"What?"

"_The child of the sun to be freed at last_. It's a line in a prophecy about me. I'm the child of the sun. Helios. That's my proof."

Nico sighed. "Listen, Will, you've got it wrong. The sun doesn't have anything to do with Helios. It's Apollo you're thinking of."

"No," Will backed away from him. It couldn't be true. The Gods were vengeful and cruel and evil. "You're wrong. I have nothing to do with the Olympians."

"You have everything to do with them, actually. You've just been locked away so long that you don't know."

"Don't blame grandmother for this, she was just trying to protect me!"

"What's your birthday?"

The question threw him off. He blinked slowly. "What?"

"What is your birthday, Will? Has your grandmother told you that?"

"June twenty first, but-" he began, but Nico cut him off.

"The summer solstice," Nico said, "the day of the festival honoring Apollo and his lost son. That festival will celebrate its eighteenth anniversary next week. You're turning eighteen in a week, aren't you?"

Will sat in stunned silence. Nico simply raised an eyebrow in the other boy's direction and shrugged. "I told you. You have nothing to do with Helios."

"Grandmother was protecting me against the Gods' wrath. They don't want me to exist because I'm too powerful. I don't believe you."

"Trust me, the Gods aren't my favorite people ever. But they aren't the worst people to know. One of them is my dad, after all. You don't want to believe me, ask Reyna then. She won't lie to you."

Will, who could no longer stand to look Nico in the eye, stared at the ground. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's the truth. The whole immortal world knows about you. Every demigod on the planet knows your story."

Will stood and backed away from Nico, partially out of anger, partially out of fear. He was one of _them_. "If you really think I'm this infamous Apollo child, prove it! Take me into town and show them all I'm alive. Let me see this supposed festival."

"Are you kidding?" Nico stood as well. He tried to meet Will's eyes, but had to glance up slightly because Will was about three inches taller than him. "I can't be seen anywhere public. I'm a criminal. And you're my accomplice. We both have to lie low from now on."

"Then how am I supposed to believe you?"

"I don't know. Maybe you can try having a little trust?"

"Trusting a criminal. That seems logical."

The two boys glared at each other. Nico just barely noticed the tears in Will's eyes.

He felt guilty for only a second before he remembered the burden that Will was already becoming. He couldn't bring himself to feel sympathy him for more than a few moments, then he went right back to resenting him. Why Reyna thought it would be a good idea to bring him along, Nico didn't know. He was already more trouble than it was worth. And now they were stuck with him.

"If you two are done bickering," Reyna revealed herself, emerging from the trees a few feet away, "there's a stream about three hundred feet in that direction. There's no one in the immediate vicinity. I would have scoped out a wider perimeter but I got distracted by your yelling."

Will looked away quickly swiped at his eyes. He hated how easily he got upset at everything. He'd been scolded all throughout his life. _Don't be so sensitive. Don't let little things get you down. Don't cry over everything. _He wasn't supposed to show weakness.

"Sorry about that," he said to Reyna. He faked a smile and sauntered over to her with a false bounce in his step. "So, when are we eating lunch? I'm starving."

Reyna glanced between the two boys. "Soon," she said carefully. "Nico, why don't you go and look for someplace we can eat?"

"Gladly," Nico huffed. He stormed off into the trees without another word.

Will dejectedly sat on the ground and buried his head in his arms. Reyna placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I don't understand why he's so angry," said Will. "I didn't think I did anything wrong."

Reyna sighed and sat down next to him. "Don't worry about Nico. He thinks the whole world is against him," she explained. "He's been through a lot, and it's really hard for him to like people. It takes him a long time to open up to anyone. I've been his best friend for years and he's still hesitant about letting me know what's going on with him. You just have to give him his space."

"What has he been through that's so bad?" Will asked. "I can't imagine anything being that awful that he'd keep it all to himself."

Reyna smiled sadly. "Maybe one day he'll tell you."

Will nodded, then hesitated before asking, "Do you really think I'm Apollo's lost son?"

He glanced up at her. His wide-eyed expression made him look so vulnerable and young, despite the fact that Reyna was roughly the same age as him. She hated to hurt him with the truth.

She sighed, "Yes, I really do. Which is the other reason I was so insistent on bringing you along. Gaea has done a lot of bad things to a lot of people, including kidnapping you. I didn't want her to hurt any more innocent people."

Will couldn't imagine grandmother doing anything so terrible, especially to him. She took care of him all of his life. She loved him. Of course, she did get frustrated any time Will suggested leaving the tower. And there were a few times where she got really angry and broke furniture or locked Will in his room for a couple of days. But that was normal. She wouldn't ever really hurt him... right?

"I can promise you one thing, though. Nico would never try to hurt you, and neither would I," said Reyna, as if she were reading his mind. "He and I will keep you safe. I promise."

He wanted to believe her. He really did. But his entire life he'd been taught that all demigods were no good. He really hoped Reyna and Nico would be exceptions.

Nico emerged from the trees a few seconds later. "Okay, good news, no monsters have managed to track us down yet."

"And the bad news?" Reyna asked.

"Camp Jupiter has," he said.

_Camp Jupiter?_ Will wondered. It couldn't have been a good thing, considering the grim expression on Reyna's face.

She swore under her breath. "I should have known they'd manage to get a search party out after us. Someone probably spotted us in the city. How far out are they?"

"About eight hundred feet northwest of here," said Nico, glancing in that direction. "There's a tavern and a couple convenience stores near there too. It's a risky trip, but if we can manage to avoid them-"

"We have to. We didn't account for a third person being with us. We won't have enough food to last the whole trip if we don't stop for something now."

They both looked at Will, who wished he could disappear into the shadows the way Nico did. Whoever these Camp Jupiter people were, they were dangerous, and Will was forcing Nico and Reyna straight into their territory. The guilt would start to eat away at him, the way it always did.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm putting you two in danger."

"We would have had to stop sooner or later anyway," Reyna reassured him. "We'll get there and back just fine. Don't worry about it."

* * *

><p>It was hard not to worry when death seemed to be glaring you down from every direction.<p>

Teenagers and adults walked by openly wielding daggers, swords, and other threatening-looking weapons. Most of the people who passed them didn't bother to give them a second glance.

"So these people... they're all demigods?" Will asked in a hushed tone.

"Not exactly," Reyna replied. "Most of them are legacies, but only the Romans really acknowledge them."

Romans, Greeks, demigods, legacies... they all seemed like the same thing to Will: dangerous.

A streetsign in the distance read _Beauzac, France, 32 kilomètres au sud-est._ The purple-clad men and women milled around almost aimlessly, stopping to talk to one another every once in a while. They seemed almost bored. Luckily for Will, Nico, and Reyna, that meant they could fit right in with the group easily. They slipped past tents and campfires that were mid-construction and made it safely to the doors of the tavern.

And that's when everything went wrong.

"Nico, we've got trouble," Reyna whispered and gestured to the back of the shop. A man not too much older than Will sat in a giant chair, surrounded by a dozen other men and women who seemed to be placing bets and waging their weapons and supplies. His stringy blonde hair fell into his face as he collected piled of golden drachma.

"Octavian," Nico growled. "Figures, he'd be leading the party to find us first." He turned to Will. "Keep your head down."

"Who is he?" Will asked in a whisper.

"Bad news," Reyna shook her head and sighed. She grabbed Will by his wrist and pulled him behind a pillar. "It's best if we get our stuff and get out as fast as possible. We need money and nectar, and some ambrosia if we can manage to get it."

"I'll do it," Will volunteered, then immediately regretted it. He pushed down his fear. He couldn't afford to be afraid right now. Besides, if it weren't for him, they wouldn't need to be here in the first place. "You two can't be seen, but he doesn't know who I am. I can cause a distraction while you two grab what we need and get out without getting caught."

"Are you sure about this?" Reyna asked. "Octavian is dangerous."

Will shrugged and held his head up high. "I wanted an adventure. What's an adventure without a little danger?"

Exerting more confidence than he actually had, Will sauntered through the dark tavern, checking his surroundings. Groups of young adults - young _demigods_, mostly, from what Nico and Reyna had told him - sat eating and drinking together at tables. He would have assumed they were just average people if he hadn't been paying attention. At the head of one table a girl casually leaned on the handle of her sword. At another, the figure of what seemed to be a purple ghost floated right through the chair. Opposite of them, a young man with red-stained lips was busy guzzling down what Will could only assume was wine.

Will picked up bits of conversation as he approached the head chair.

"You're absolutely sure you saw Reyna?" Octavian asked a younger girl who kneeled before him.

She stuttered out her answer, "I'm positive. She was wearing her praetor's badge and everything. She was with some teenage guy. I didn't get a good look at him."

Octavian frowned down at her. "What did he look like?"

"I only saw the back of his head. He had dark hair. Tall. That's all I know, I'm sorry," the girl shrunk back in fear as Octavian narrowed his eyes at her.

"Drop the money and get out of my sight" Octavian grumbled. The girl quickly emptied her pockets of gold coins and ran away as fast as possible.

That's when Will realized. They weren't placing bets. They were giving Octavian sacrificial offerings.

He sat on the chair like it was a throne and he was a king looking over his subjects. "Who else has something to report?" he called out.

_Now or never_, Will thought as he made his way up to the center of the crowd. "I have some information for you."

The entire room fell silent. Will took a hesitant step forward as Octavian stared him down. The floorboards creaked under his weight. There were so many eyes on him he couldn't count them if he tried.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "This boy Reyna was traveling with... he wasn't a demigod," he improvised. "It was a mortal kid. A cousin of hers..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Will saw Reyna sneak around to the back of Octavian's chair and successfully snatch various flasks full of multi-colored liquids, stashing them in her bag and retreating back into the darkness.

"Which would explain the family resemblance, you know, the dark hair, the height," he babbled. "And I don't know why she'd be out in public so openly. Maybe showing him the sights around the city or whatever."

Glancing to the left, he saw Nico silently approaching Octavian's table full of weapons and coins.

"Who are you?" Octavian asked. "Have I seen you around the fifth cohort?"

"Yes," Will lied.

Octavian wasn't buying it. "Where's your tattoo?" He asked carefully, slowly standing from his chair and walking towards Will. "Or have you not earned it yet? And in that case, why isn't your probatio tablet around your neck?"

Will took a cautionary step back, but he was stopped by two very threatening-looking campers with even more threatening-looking weapons. One grabbed him by the collar and the other pointed his dagger at Will's chest.

"I think we have a spy among us. From Camp Half-Blood most likely," Octavian growled. "You two know what to do with Greeks who try to cross me."

Before Will could even blink, Nico jumped from behind the pillar, unsheathing his obsidian-black sword and tackling Octavian to the ground, straddling him and holding the tip of the sword to his neck. The entire crowd tensed, most of them pulling out weapons of their own, half of them pointed at Will, the other half at Nico.

"Nico di Angelo," Octavian sneered, struggling to get the words out. "I should have known you were behind this. Still working for Percy Jackson and those graecus scum, I see."

"I don't work for Percy or the Greeks or anybody else! I work for myself!"

"Who is Percy Jackson?" Will asked. One of Octavian's cronies slapped a hand over his mouth.

"That's none of your business." Nico snapped. "Just let him go, Octavian."

"But it's so much more tempting to take you both prisoner," Octavian grinned.

They were stuck at a stalemate. If either side made a move, it'd end in bloodshed. Will didn't dare try to escape the grasp of the two campers, who still stood ready to attack at Octavian's command.

The command would have come at any second, were it not for the explosion.

The back wall of the tavern caved in as a giant cloud of smoke consumed the airspace all around them. Will took this first chance to duck out of the way of the two campers, who swung at each other out of confusion. Nico jumped to his feet and slashed at the row of people standing before him, who all retreated.

To his right, Will saw Reyna dashing through the crowd collecting more supplies. In her hands, she held vials of green liquid, which, once thrown a considerable distance, exploded in a flash of bright fire and smoke.

"What are you waiting for? GO!" she yelled.

It took Will a minute to realize Reyna was talking to him. After coming to his senses, he ran towards Nico, who sliced his way through groups of Roman demigods effortlessly.

Octavian's angry yells rang through the chaos as Will and Nico dashed through the hole in the wall and made a break for the trees. Reyna followed close behind, throwing one more green vial for good measure, which immediately burst into an emerald-green inferno.

"Greek fire," she cackled. "Gods, I love that stuff."

* * *

><p>Minutes later, the exhausted trio stumbled their way back into the clearing in the woods where the Athena Parthenos stood right where they left it. It seemed to be staring them down, asking <em>Hey, where have you been?<em> Reyna threw her bag to the ground and plopped down next to it, pulling out a bottle of water and drinking it all down in two swallows.

Nico reclaimed his earlier seat at the base of the statue and began tending to the scratches on his hands and arms. Will wanted to reach out and help him. It was an uncontrollable impulse - seeing injuries and immediately wanting to fix them. It was the only thing he knew he could always do right. He'd have to learn to fight down those urges.

To distract himself, he decided to make conversation. "Why did you reveal yourself back there?"

Nico sorted through his own bag, pulled out a bandage, and began wrapping it around his wrist. "I couldn't let them hurt you." Will may have taken that as a compliment, if it weren't followed by, "It would have been a huge waste of time if you got yourself killed."

"I'm sorry I put you guys in danger back there," Will said. "I could have stalled longer or been a better liar or something. Anything."

"Don't blame yourself, Will," Reyna said. "That wasn't bad at all for your first time. You should have seen most demigods on their first quests, they were even worse disasters than that."

There she was again, referring to Will as a demigod. The thought still made him sick to his stomach. He just couldn't rid himself of the awful imagery of demigods that grandmother had planted in his head. Then again, two demigods had just saved his life.

Maybe they weren't all that bad. Maybe.

Nico glanced up at the sky. "The sun is almost set. We've got to get going. If any of them managed to make it out of that fire, they'll be after us."

"They'll probably have search parties no matter where we go next," Reyna huffed. "Wherever that may be."

"We're in France," Will blurted out. "I saw a sign earlier. We're maybe twenty miles away from a city called Beauzac."

A mischievous grin spread across Reyna's face. "Nico, don't we have a friend living in France?"

"It's like you read my mind, Reyna," Nico said. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind housing three outlaws for a day or two."

* * *

><p>The sensation of turning into pure darkness and emerging hundreds of miles away in one piece wasn't anything he could ever get used to. Shadow traveling wasn't the most enjoyable experience, but at least the second time, Will knew what to expect.<p>

Nico, Reyna and the statue all landed standing straight up, although Reyna looked a bit disoriented. Meanwhile, Will fell flat on his face and struggled to find his balance.

A modern-looking two-story house stood in front of them. The front porch light flickered on as the figure of a young woman stepped out the front door. She brushed her dark brown hair from her face and blinked the sleep from her eyes. Her jaw fell open at the sight of the statue. She looked even more surprised to see who was transporting it.

"Nico? Reyna, is that you?" she called out.

"Hey Piper," Nico said sheepishly. "Mind if we crash here for a little while?"

* * *

><p><em>That ungrateful, lying, disobedient little cretin. <em>

Gaea felt his disappearance immediately. She could sense him traveling across the earth the moment his feet touched the ground.

She made her way back to the tower as fast as she could, but it was too late to stop him. By now, he could be thousands of miles away. She angrily broke down the door at the base of the tower and stormed up the stairs. The entire main living area was destroyed, either from falling debris or human carelessness. Not once piece of furniture was in its correct place.

Gaea slowly crept her way into Will's bedroom, where nothing was out of place except for an empty space on his bookshelf.

She'd gone nearly eighteen years without an incident. Killing that mortal woman and stealing Will had been easy enough. Hiding him away from the Gods had been tricky, but not impossible. And of course, she'd raised him so that he'd never dare to disobey her.

Until now.

His powers were too strong. He'd be too powerful a weapon to them. He could be the one person to cause Gaea's downfall. If the Gods got a hold of him now... she didn't want to think about how it would end.


	3. Ostende Virtutem Tuam

Nico had tried to give him a short explanation as Piper welcomed them in. "She's an old friend of mine. She and her friends Leo and Jason showed up around December one year at Camp Half-Blood. I only knew her for a little while before she left on her quest, but she's still one of my only real friends."

"So you haven't seen her in years?" Will asked.

"Oh, no, of course we've seen her," Nico said. "She has the power of charmspeak, so she can get away with lying about almost anything. She's been talking with her old friends in secret for months now. Knowing her, she wouldn't be able to stay away from Leo and her boyfriend Jason for any extended period of time."

Reyna smirked. "Just like a true daughter of Aphrodite."

After introductions were made and lots of hugs were exchanged between old friends, Piper flitted around her kitchen, setting the table and filling plates to the rim with what seemed to be an endless supply of junk food. The conversations all blended into each other. One second they were discussing travel plans, and the next they were catching up with the events that had happened in the past few years, most of which Will was still completely clueless about. _Doors of Death? Tartarus? _Most of their discussion didn't seem to make any sense.

"No, the Doors are still open, sadly. The quest can't continue without me," said Piper. "But according to Jason and Leo's letters, Percy's back with Annabeth at Camp for the summer."

"Good for him," Nico grunted. "But without you, Hazel and Frank, the prophecy still can't come true. All seven of you are needed."

"I know," Piper sighed, "but with Frank and Hazel being tracked down by Jupiter's army, its hard for us to make any progress. They've been on the run for months. At least now that you and Reyna have the statue, one piece of the puzzle is in place."

"I'm sorry about that, by the way," Reyna said. "If I'd known it wasn't Leo's fault for firing on Camp-"

"Don't worry about that," Piper interrupted. "There's nothing we can do about it now."

When they mentioned things Will _was_ knowledgeable about, like Gaea and the Titans, he kept quiet, silently staring down at his place. Eventually, that conversation died out too, which Will was grateful for.

"If I'd been expecting you guys I would have prepared better," Piper said.

Reyna gratefully feasted on the bowl of green grapes in front of her. "Don't worry about it. You know we're used to a little chaos. Have you settled in here alright?"

Earlier, Piper had explained how she had come ("More like 'got forcibly dragged'," she explained) to Paris with her dad. The McLean family was extremely wealthy and could easily afford a vacation home or two or five. Their current home was massive. Will had tried not to stare in awe as they'd entered the main hallway. Lofty white curtains covered the two-story windows, which looked out onto a cobblestone-lined courtyard and private garden. The dining table was pure cherry wood, covered in a satin tablecloth and set for a complete five-course meal. It almost felt like a crime to be eating snacks in such an elegant atmosphere.

"We've managed well enough so far," she sighed, taking the seat next to Will. "I miss it back home, but knowing my dad, we'll be somewhere new in less than a year. Dad's never really home, so he won't know you guys were ever here. And the place is huge, so we have lots of spare bedrooms. Each with their own private bathrooms. You can make yourselves at home."

"I call dibs on the biggest shower," Reyna said immediately. "Mind showing me the way?"

Piper stood and jokingly curtsied in her direction, waving her hand in a flourish towards the staircase. "Right this way, m'lady."

The girls left the room, which left Will and Nico sitting alone at the dining table. It was so silent, Will might have thought Nico was asleep if the other boy hadn't been sitting up and poking at his plate with his fork.

"So..." Will began, "No offense or anything, but I thought the people from Camp all hated you."

"Piper is my friend from the _Greek_ camp," said Nico, sighing and rubbing his fingers against his temples. "Though neither side likes me very much anymore."

Will tiled his head in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Everyone is after me. The Romans are against me because they think I'm a double agent," Nico explained. "I blended in with them and lived among them for a few months. Once they found out I'm Greek, they didn't take it well. Greeks and Romans don't exactly get along. Having Reyna at my side only makes the grudge between the two sides even worse. Everyone thinks I'm a traitor."

"Oh..." Will stared down at his lap. "I... I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing for everything," said Nico. "Have you noticed you do that a lot? Not everything is your fault. You don't have to say you're sorry."

"I'm sor-" Will began, then quickly stopped himself. "I'll try to stop."

It was then Will realized he would have preferred the silence. It seemed to be every conversation he had with the di Angelo boy would leave him feeling angry, upset, guilty, or an odd combination of all three.

Luckily, Piper reentered the room at that moment and helped diffuse the tension. "Nico, do you want me to show you to your room?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure I can find it myself," said Nico. "Thanks for dinner by the way."

"You're welcome," Piper said. "It's right upstairs, second door to the left."

Without another word, Nico stood, dropped his empty plate in the sink, and made his way upstairs. The sound of his footsteps faded as he closed the door to his bedroom for the night.

Piper sat down next to Will again and twirled the end of her braid between her fingers. "So how exactly did the infamous lost son of Apollo end up with Nico and Reyna of all people?"

"You too?" Will asked.

"'Me too' what?"

"You think I'm Apollo's son," Will explained. "Everyone thinks that."

"Actually, I really only thought that because Reyna told me," Piper admitted. "But now that I get a good look at you, I think she's right. Blonde hair, blue eyes, slight tan. Aside from the hint of freckles across your nose, you look just like him."

"It could be a coincidence," Will muttered, bringing a hand to his face. He'd never felt self-conscious about his appearance, but now he suddenly felt the need to hide his hair and face and freckles from everyone.

"Do you really believe that?" asked Piper. "Will, one of my first nights at Camp Half-Blood before I left for my quest, the kids were sitting around the campfire telling your story. At first I thought it was something they'd made up until Mr. D told me it was true."

"Mr. D?"

"Dionysus. You know, the god of wine," Piper shrugged. "He's a counselor at camp."

Will blinked at her like she'd just grown an extra head, but she ignored him and continued.

"Not only did he say the story about Gaea kidnapping Apollo's son was true, but he said that Apollo still regularly visited camp undercover just to check and see if his son somehow made it there."

"Doesn't Apollo have lots of other kids though? Why would this one be so special?"

"No one knows," said Piper. "But we know that, for whatever reason, Gaea wanted him for herself. Wanted _you_ for herself."

_For my powers_, Will though. For a moment he almost felt inclined to tell her. But if that was Gaea's true reason behind kidnapping him, then it'd only put him in even more danger if more people knew about it.

"Gaea's the reason I'm stuck here in Paris instead of staying at Camp, you know."

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

Piper sighed. "You're not the only person whose life was ruined by her. Her Giant son Enceladus held my dad captive to try to lure Jason, Leo and I into a trap. We were able to defeat him, but my dad was nearly driven insane after being trapped and tortured for so long."

Will placed a comforting hand on hers as she continued, "He knew nothing about the immortal world before that happened. He didn't even know I was a demigod, or that my mother was Aphrodite. He wanted to be okay with my new life, he really did. But once I set off on my most recent quest and we were attacked at Camp Jupiter that was the last straw. I was supposed to be one of seven demigods to fulfill an ancient prophecy about destroying Gaea once and for all, but we failed. The Romans attacked us. Our ship was destroyed. We barely made it out alive. Hazel and Frank, the two demigods I mentioned earlier, were supposed to be part of the quest too, but they're still considered Roman traitors and neither side will welcome them."

"Is Reyna considered a traitor too?" Will asked.

Piper nodded. "She ran away from Camp Jupiter when she was fifteen, a little while after Jason left. She abandoned her position as Praetor. She and Nico met up not too long after and vowed to work together to unite the two sides. They're really the only reason why I can still talk to my old friends. They're the only reason the prophecy of the seven still has a chance to succeed. If only I could get back to Camp. Now that my dad knows how dangerous it is out there for me... well, lets just say I won't ever be returning if he has any say in it. Gaea and her army are too much of a threat on my life. He doesn't want to risk losing me again."

Will shook his head in disbelief. "This is all Gaea's fault... How could anyone be so cruel?"

"If you think that's bad, you should hear what she did to Leo…" Piper took a deep breath to regain her composure. "My point is, Will, Gaea is bad news. She's a liar. She will manipulate you into trusting her and she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Reyna and Nico really do have good intentions behind taking you away from home, as hard as that is to believe. I'll admit, I didn't really trust Nico when I first met him, either. A lot of people don't. But I have proof that he has good intentions. You'll grow to love him and trust him, eventually."

That seemed highly unlikely. Nico couldn't even stand him. As hard as he tried, he didn't think he and Nico would ever get along, let alone be friends. Then again, it had only been a day. Maybe they could make some progress with time. At least Will hoped they would.

Piper squeezed Will's hand, then let go. "Please believe me, Will. I wouldn't lie to you." She stood, the chair scraping against the floor as she did. "You can stay in the room next to mine, third door to the right. You have a tough journey to make. But with Nico and Reyna at your side, you won't have any problem getting to Camp Half-Blood. Get some rest tonight, okay?"

With that, Piper left the room, turning to give Will one last encouraging smile before walking upstairs into her bedroom and closing the door behind her.

Will's thoughts kept him awake into the early hours of the morning.

At first he'd been wary around Piper. That charmspeak of hers wasn't the most trustworthy thing. But the way she had almost started tearing up while talking about her dad, and the slight break in her voice every time she said Jason's name... Heartbreak like that couldn't be faked.

Gaea was a threat, Will was almost sure of that. Too many signs pointed to the truth of her wickedness. But Will's entire childhood was shrouded in memories of Gaea's love and care and generosity.

And, on a few occasions, anger and frustration and rage. Though she very rarely showed that side of herself, it was enough to make him sure that she wasn't who she said she was. Piper, Nico, and Reyna only proved that point further.

He padded his way up the stairs as quietly as he could. Despite how late it was, lights still shone through the space under Piper's door, which made him think he wasn't the only one keeping himself awake tonight.

The first thing he noticed in his guest room was the king-sized bed covered with more pillows than he could count. Sitting at the foot of the bed was his bag, his copy of Sleeping Beauty sticking out of the top. This book that'd he'd grown up loving and reading every day suddenly left a bitter taste in his mouth. It had been his first gift from her. Reading it planted the idea in his head that he'd one day marry a prince and live happily ever after. Now that dream had crashed and burned and he realized the truth behind his "grandmother's" lies. She'd been telling him stories all his life, but they were just as fake as his fairytales.

Will grabbed the book and threw it across the room, not caring whether or not it would get ruined. The front cover skidded across the wood floor, the gold lettering peeling off on the corners.

He tossed the blankets back and buried his head into the pillows, trying his hardest not to let the negative thoughts get to him.

Tomorrow, he'd be traveling with Nico and Reyna again. Tomorrow they'd be further away from the tower and further away from Gaea. Their travels will bring them closer to Camp Half-Blood, closer to uniting the Greeks and Romans, closer to freedom.


	4. Convertimini Tempus

Will felt like he had just barely closed his eyes when a knock on the door pulled him from his slumber.

The clock on the bedside read 4:00AM. Nico stood in the doorway, his hair and clothes messy and tousled from sleep. The dark circles under his eyes were even more prominent than usual.

"Are you awake?" he asked quietly, "We've got to get going. Before sunrise. Will?"

Will sighed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "I'm awake," he said. "I'll be down in a minute."

Nico nodded and left silently.

Will had barely been asleep long enough to dream, but visions of dark shadows and people screaming clouded in the back of his mind. Nightmares like this usually happened when he thought too hard about his prophecy. _A lost most wrong to set things right._ That line usually left a bitter taste in his mouth and an ache in his stomach. And now, on the morning of June sixteenth, they were only five days away from setting the prophecy in motion.

And Reyna and Nico still had no idea, which was another thing he had to worry about. He couldn't push away the nagging fear that they'd leave him behind once they found out the whole prophecy. He'd only briefly discussed it with Nico, and even then he'd only mentioned the line referring to him as the child of the sun. If they knew about the bad side, surely they wouldn't want him tagging along anymore.

Then again, from what Piper had told him, Nico and Reyna had experienced their fair share of loss too, none of which they'd mentioned to Will. They all had their secrets.

Will finally managed to force himself out of bed at 4:30, kicking the blankets and his book, which still lay on the floor, out of his way as he left the room. He hastily tugged a hand through his unruly mess of blonde waves as he walked downstairs into the kitchen. Nico sat at the head of the table halfheartedly shoving a slice of toast in his mouth. Reyna lay with her head on the table, hair splayed out around her face, muttering angrily as Piper slid a glass of orange juice in her direction.

"No," she grumbled. "Orange is too happy a color. Being up this early should be a crime."

"I'm sorry," Piper said, brushing some hair from Reyna's face, "But my dad's coming back today, so I couldn't let you guys stay until tonight."

"Plus, we have a deadline to meet," said Nico.

Reyna simply groaned again, refusing to lift her head. Piper rolled her eyes, but she had a hint of a smile on her face. Instead of dealing with Reyna's early-morning attitude, she turned to Will and gestured to the plate of breakfast pastries in front of her. "Well these muffins aren't going to eat themselves. Help yourself."

Half an hour later, with full stomachs and bags packed, the trio wished Piper a heartfelt goodbye. She even gave Will a brief hug as she handed him a small bag.

"There's some food in here. Apples and pears and a couple other fruits and things," she explained. "I know those two eat nothing but junk and carbs. They'll have you on a pure sugar diet in no time."

Will smiled and nodded gratefully.

Piper gave Nico a one-armed hug and ruffled his hair, to his annoyance. He glared at her, which she ignored as she moved on to hug Reyna goodbye as well.

"Could you do me a favor?" Piper asked. "When you get to camp, tell everyone that I miss them. And tell Jason-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll tell blondie that you love him and all that junk," Reyna teased. "No need to get all sentimental and emotional. We'll see you again soon, I promise."

Piper pulled her in for one last hug before stepping back, wiping a tear from her eye. "Good luck. Not that you'll need it."

With that, Nico linked hands with Reyna and Will and worked his magic. At once, the world around them turned to pitch-black emptiness. The McLean family's large manor disappeared, engulfed in smoke and darkness, as a strange falling sensation came over them.

Shadow traveling seemed to take forever to Will, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed before the three of them and the Athena Parthenos landed in the middle of an empty park. Will squinted through the darkness and could just spot a large lake surrounded by trees in front of them. Behind them stood an elegant-looking fountain. If it weren't for the fact that it was five in the morning, the park would have probably been full of tourists.

Nico swayed where he stood. "Where are we?"

"Parc de la Ciutadella," Reyna muttered, glancing at the name on a map near them, "Ciutadella Park. Barcelona. Why are we in Barcelona?"

"I must've overshot my landing," Nico slurred. "This is way... way further than I meant to go."

Reyna placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Just... tired. Don't worry about it," Nico grumbled, then he promptly fell to the ground, unconscious.

Reyna dropped to her knees, supporting Nico's head on her lap and feeling his forehead. She frowned and looked up at Will. "He's not running a fever. I'm assuming your healing can't fix exhaustion."

"Unfortunately, no," said Will. "I'm no doctor, but I'm assuming we'll just have to wait for him to sleep it off."

And wait they did. By sunrise, the Ciutadella park was already welcoming a steady stream of people. No one questioned the giant statue of Athena behind them. Either they assumed it was part of the park's scenery or the mist disguised it as something common. Whatever it was, Will was grateful it wasn't drawing too much attention in their direction.

About every hour or so, a concerned adult would approach them warily. The first time it had been an older-looking woman who questioned them in Spanish.

"Está su hijo enfermo?" she asked in a heavy accent.

"Uh, no es mi hijo," Reyna blushed bright red, but smiled politely at the woman. "Es mi amigo, y él es bien, gracias."

"Lo siento, cariño," she replied, "¿Necesita medicamento? Hay una farmacia cerca de aquí. Te voy a mostrar, sígueme -"

"Gracias, pero no," Reyna snapped. She turned to Will and whispered, "This city has a really bad pickpocketing reputation. Don't go anywhere with anyone, they'll rob you blind." She returned her attention to the woman. "No necesitamos su ayuda. No tengo miedo a llamar a la policía."

Will was extremely confused. He didn't understand a word of Spanish, but it was easy enough to tell that "policía" meant police and Reyna had just threatened her. The woman seemed highly offended and stormed off.

Half an hour later a young man took a seat next to Reyna. He was handsome, Will noted, but he gave off an extremely arrogant air.

"¿Por qué es una muchacha bonita con él?" He winked at her. "¿Quieres un hombre guapo que puede satisfacerle, ¿no?"

Reyna made no attempt to hide the disgusted look on her face. "No me interesa. Además, tengo un cuchillo muy afilado y yo no tengo miedo de utilizarlo."

The boy paled and backed away. Reyna bit back a smirk as he ran off. Meanwhile, Nico still lay asleep with his head in Reyna's lap.

"What just happened?" Will asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

Reyna shrugged. "He was flirting with me. I just told him I wasn't interested. That's all."

Pickpocketing old women and creepy young men weren't the worst of their worries. Reyna would eavesdrop on peoples' conversations and translate out loud for Will, and more than once, she overheard talk of people seeing large groups of people in purple t-shirts gathering nearby, which could only mean Camp Jupiter was still hunting them. Just another reminder of how dangerous this quest was.

Before they knew it, four hours had passed. The di Angelo boy didn't seem any closer to waking, and the park was growing more crowded by the minute. Excited groups of children ran in the same direction, yelling eagerly about "_los monos_" and "_los osos_".

"Monkeys and bears," Reyna explained. "There's a zoo on the other side of the park."

"A real zoo? With exotic birds and huge exhibits?" Will asked. "I've never even seen what one looks like. I've only read about them."

"I can tell," Reyna laughed. "You're practically bouncing out of your seat. You seem almost as excited as those kids."

He hadn't realized it before, but he actually _was_ jittering at the thought. Going to the zoo would be the first non-life-threatening fun thing he'd done on this whole adventure.

"Go," Reyna said. "Have some fun."

"Are you sure?" asked Will.

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied. "Unless you want to sit here and watch me get uncomfortably hit on for the next few hours while I try to wake Nico up. Just meet us back here before sunset."

Will hopped up, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "I'll be back on time, I promise."

"Oh, and Will?"

"Yes?"

"Could you buy me one of those souvenir hats with the animal ears on it? I'm going to put it on Nico while he sleeps. It'll be hilarious."

* * *

><p>After two hours of watching colorful exotic birds fly around and pressing buttons on displays in the interactive exhibits and - yes - buying Nico a zebra-print cap with little ears on it, Will made his way into the terrarium reptile exhibit.<p>

A group of young boys and girls stood huddled around the bearded dragon's glass cage. Standing among them, Will felt a bit ridiculous, since he stood about two feet taller than most of them.

One of the little girls, a redhead with glasses and pigtails, tugged on the bottom of his shirt and looked up at him. "Creo que respira fuego. ¿Usted cree, señor?"

Will nodded enthusiastically, as if he knew exactly what she was saying. He couldn't wait until they were in America, that way he'd at least be able to understand what people were saying. She'd said something about fire and breathing and she'd called him sir, but other than that, he wasn't sure. He was fluent in English, Greek, and Latin, and he had studied German, French, and Italian in his free time, but he still couldn't quite comprehend Spanish, which frustrated him. The words and grammar were similar to what he was familiar with, but still he couldn't quite understand them.

Rather than give himself a headache trying to understand the constant chatter of the people around him, Will decided to isolate himself a bit, walking across the room to the nearly deserted reticulated python display.

The 15-foot-long serpent lay curled up asleep on the floor of its glass exhibit, surrounded by hundreds of tiny bones of what Will assumed to be mice. Apparently sleeping giant snakes weren't enough to keep the attention of large groups of eight-year olds.

It was no fire-breathing bearded dragon, but maybe the little red-haired girl would be impressed when the snake started talking.

_Will_, a voice seemed to hiss directly into his ear.

Will whipped his head around, looking for the source of the noise, but there was no one around. Just him and the snake, which had now woken up and lifted its head to stare directly into Will's eyes.

_What are you doing here? _the voice asked. The snake didn't move an inch, but the awful hissing continued. _Shouldn't you be back at home?_

_I don't have a home, _Will thought. Thankfully, he didn't have to draw attention to himself by talking out loud. The python seemed to respond to his thoughts. _I'm not going back there._

_After everything your grandmother did for you?_

_You mean kidnapping me and lying to me? _Will asked. _Why would I want to go back to that?_

The snake raised its head up higher so that it was eye level with Will. It slowly slithered forward. Its eyes glowed bright red. _But she protected you from everyone who would have used you. _

_No, she... She used me. She was selfish and cruel, _Will thought. Then again, that's only what Nico and Reyna and Piper had told him. They could be lying.

The python nodded its head. _That's right will, they're the real liars. Go back home. You can leave now and they'll never know._

Home sounded wonderful. He could have his books and his painting supplies and his grandmother back. His grandmother-

No. This was another one of Gaea's tricks. The red glow of the serpent's eyes seemed to pierce directly into his heart. He knew he was being hypnotized, but he couldn't seem to pull away from the temptation. Home...

At once, the python let out a deafening hiss as the bones surrounding its body latched around its mouth and neck. It writhed back and forth on the ground, being choked by the remains of its old prey. Will fell to his knees, clutching at the sides of his head, the sound painfully deafening all around him. This time it wasn't just in his head - the children and families inside the building all plugged their ears to block the noise as well.

The group including the little red-head girl all stared in his direction, absolutely petrified. And standing between the children and the python's cage was Nico di Angelo. He held an open palm against the glass with a pained expression on his face. His hand curled into a fist as the bones tightened around the python's mouth, suffocating it.

Slowly, the snake fell flat and stopped moving altogether. Nico dropped to one knee, exhaling loudly. He looked even more exhausted than he did earlier after his shadow jump. She stood up shakily and offered Will his hand. "Are you alright?"

Will accepted his hand and stood, still feeling dazed. "You... the snake..."

"I woke up a little while ago and decided to come looking for you. As for the snake, it was tempting you," Nico said. Both boys seemed to notice at the same time that they were still holding hands, and Nico snatched his arm away immediately, wiping his hand on his jeans and looking back in the direction of the python's cage "Gaea's sacred animal is the serpent, which is probably why she could possess that one. I really hope that wasn't an endangered species. It's not dead but it's pretty close."

"Um, thank you," Will, who couldn't think of anything else to do, took the zebra-print cap out of his bag and thrust it in Nico's direction, "This is yours. Reyna thought you... might like it."

Nico took the cap in one hand, giving Will a quizzical look before shrugging and putting it on. Reyna was right, it did look hilarious. "Thanks," he said.

The entire room still stood silent, staring at the two boys. The little red-haired girl bounded up to them, flanked by two of her friends. "Eso era más interesante que el dragón de respiración del fuego. ¿Cómo se hace eso?" She said, beaming up at Nico.

Nico, who seemed to understand about as much Spanish as Will did, nodded slowly, backing away from the crowds of people who started to surround them.

"On the count of three," Nico whispered. "Run. One... Two..."

The two boys bolted from the room just as they saw a woman approaching a security guard, no doubt about to report them for animal endangerment.

* * *

><p>Reyna didn't have time to begin questioning Will and Nico on their whereabouts. She'd just began asking, "What happened?" when Nico cut her off.<p>

"The Barcelona Zoo police might be after me because I accidentally almost murdered a snake that may or may not be endangered, I'm not totally sure," Nico said in one breath.

Reyna sighed exasperatedly. "Again? Really?"

Will couldn't help but wonder when Nico would have found the time to accidentally murder an endangered snake _twice_ in his life, but he thought it better not to ask.

"We'll need to find somewhere more secluded to hide out until nightfall," Nico continued. "We need to go. Now."

"I'll see what I can do," Reyna said. She brought her hand to her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle. "Nice hat by the way, Nico."

Nico stuck his tongue out at her. A few minutes later, two large dark shapes appeared in the sky. Two pegasi dropped down in front of them, the bigger of the two trotting over to Reyna and pressing his nose into her open palm. Will could only imagine what the mortals were seeing. Maybe flying horses were a normal sight in Barcelona.

"Hey, Scipio," Reyna murmured. "It's good to see you, bud. Listen, I need a huge favor. Can you and your friend fly these two around and scope out the area, maybe find somewhere for us to hide out?"

"Why us?" Will asked.

"Someone has to stay and watch this thing," Reyna gestured to the Athena Parthenos, which still stood proudly behind them. "Camp Jupiter's still around here somewhere. We can't be too careful."

"Why do you get to be the one to watch it?" asked Nico. "Scipio's your pegasus, wouldn't he be more comfortable flying you while I watch Athena here?"

"You're still exhausted from the last shadow jump, you couldn't protect a fly."

"I protected Will from that snake," Nico said proudly.

"Which probably only sapped your energy more," Reyna pointed out. "I'll stay and watch the statue."

Nico pouted - which looked extremely hilarious, a seventeen-year-old in a zebra hat pouting like seven-year-old - but he had to admit Reyna had a point.

Within ten minutes, Nico had mounted Scipio and Will rode on the back of the other pegasus and they were a mile away from Ciutadella park.

The skies were clear and they had a perfect view of the city below them.

Will stared down in amazement. Nico couldn't help but smile. "First time riding a pegasus, huh?"

"Everything is so tiny," he said, awestruck. "I've never been up so high. The city is so beautiful from here."

Nico didn't think he'd ever get used to Will's childlike amusement with everything. Though he had to admit, it was a refreshing change from the usual serious mood he was in.

"Thank you, by the way," Will said.

"For what?" Nico asked.

"Saving me back there," said Will. "I was vulnerable and I would have fallen for that trap were it not for you."

Nico shrugged. "I wasn't just going to let you get hurt. Besides, you already thanked me, remember?" He gestured to the zerba-striped cap on his head.

"And I'm really grateful for that. The saving me and the ridiculous headwear," Will laughed. "I really can't do anything to make it up to you other than to thank you as sincerely as I can."

Nico was silent for a moment before quietly saying, "You're welcome."

It had only taken 48 hours of constantly being in each others' company, but Will was finally breaking through Nico's shell and getting along with him, even if it was just for this one moment. Will smiled to himself, feeling accomplished. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a huge expanse of trees and fields.

"Nico, look, over there," he pointed.

"Scipio, that way," Nico directed the pegasus. "Looks like a forest. Lots of trees. Perfect place to hide out."

In no time, they were soaring over the seemingly endless forest of trees and fields. They could drop down almost anywhere and be completely concealed. It really was a great place to take refuge for the rest of the day.

Everything seemed perfect. Which meant that it was the perfect time for things to go terribly wrong. And that's exactly what happened when Will's pegasus was shot down.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN)**: My apologies if any of the Spanish is horribly wrong. Two years of high school Spanish class gives you a very limited knowledge of the language.


	5. Adducere Reportat Quod Nostra Fuit

Thanks to Scipio's quick reflexes, Will and his pegasus survived the fall. But just barely.

The black pegasus whinnied loudly as three arrows lodged into his left wing. He immediately listed to the left side, quickly losing altitude. Will was thrown off his back and fell into the clouds.

"Help him!" Nico yelled, panicked. Scipio didn't need to be told twice. He immediately swooped down and caught Will on his back, flapping his wings as hard as he could to catch up with his flying companion, who was still struggling to stay aloft.

Scipio nudged his head under the other pegasus' wing, supporting him as best as he could. With the added weight of the other pegasus and Will, who lay on Scipio's back frozen in shock, they quickly gained speed, plummeting into the trees below.

Nico could barely focus on the pain of branches scratching across his arms and face. One branch caught him near the eye and blacked out his vision for a moment, but it still wasn't the worst pain he'd been in. He was too worried about how the two pegasi were going to survive the violent crash to the ground that was about to happen any second now.

Except the violent, deadly crash never came. Instead, the tangled ball of teenage boy and pegasus crash-landed in a lake, which was much less life-threatening, albeit freezing cold. Thankfully the water was deep enough that they didn't slam into the rocks at the bottom. Unfortunately, deep water also meant having to swim to the surface, and Nico highly doubted Will knew how to swim at all.

Nico splashed frantically, trying to look through the murky water for any sign of the other boy. He spotted him about ten feet away, unmoving. He kicked his way over to Will as fast as he could, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up to the surface. The moment he could breathe again, Will began coughing up water.

"Oh, gods, are you okay?" Nico brushed strands of blonde hair out of Will's face. "Listen, kid, I didn't just almost kill a snake for you to drown on me now. Say something."

A short distance away, two soaking wet winged horses were splashing their way out of the lake with great difficulty. Scipio and his companion just barely made it back on to shore when the sound of another arrow being nocked into a bow was heard.

"Don't move," a man's voice threatened. "Or this time I'll aim closer to your heads."

Nico couldn't even be bothered to look up to see the source of the voice. He was too worried about Will, who still rested limply in his arms, staring dazed off into the distance in complete shock.

"Wait, don't shoot!" a girl called out from behind the man. "Stop!"

_That_ voice was a different story. That was a voice Nico would have recognized anywhere.

"Hazel?"

"Nico!" she grinned. "It _is_ you!"

"Wait, _Nico_?" the man lowered his bow.

Scipio and his companion whinnied loudly and frantically splashed around in the water, drenching everyone and effectively ruining the heartfelt reunion.

The man shook water out of his hair. "Is that Reyna's pegasus?"

"Oh, Gods," Hazel sprinted to the lakeside and waded out into the water "Hold on, Scipio, I'm coming."

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, after they'd managed to fish two soaking wet pegasi and a dazed teenage boy out of the river, Nico turned to face his sister for the first time in three years. They stared at each other silently, slowing taking in the sight of each other.<p>

"Hey, big brother," Hazel whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Nico said, opening his arms wide for a hug.

Hazel choked back a sob as she buried her head into Nico's shoulder. He hugged her close, still finding it hard to believe that it was really her.

When he'd fled from Camp Jupiter, he thought he might never see her again. Yet here she was, older and taller than he'd remembered, but it was undeniably her. Her cinnamon-colored hair and face were smudged full of dirt and grass and water, but he didn't care.

Nico hadn't recognized the man with her before, but taking a better look at him, he realized it was no other than Frank Zhang. He was now nineteen years old and had long lost all of his baby fat in his face, which made him look drastically different. He too was covered in dirt with bits of twig and leaves in his hair, which could only mean they had been camping out here for a while.

He couldn't really criticize their looks, though. He was still dripping wet from his surprise swim and scratched all over from the fall. He couldn't tell what was water and what was blood. All three of them looked a mess.

"It's good to see you again," Frank said. His voice was deeper than Nico remembered.

Nico nodded in his direction. "Good to see you too, Frank."

Will started having another violent coughing fit, which effectively pulled their attention back to more important things.

"Oh, right," Nico said, pulling away from his sister. "Will, this is my sister Hazel Levesque and her boyfriend Frank Zhang. Hazel, Frank, this is Will Solace. He's the lost son of Apollo. Do you guys mind maybe letting us hide out here for a while?"

* * *

><p>The group had talked for hours, catching up on life and the time they'd spent apart. Hazel had also updated them on their current situation. What they'd originally thought was a forest was actually a national park.<p>

"Serra de Collserola Natural Park," she explained. "It's actually really popular with the people who live here. Lots of nature trails and shops and restaurants. But it's also secluded enough where the mortals don't notice us camping out here."

The four of them sat in a clearing surrounded by trees. Frank had lit a fire as the sun began to set. Nico sat next to Will wearing one of Frank's old tee shirts, which was still about three sizes too big, but he was grateful for it. Will had been offered dry clothes too, but he'd refused, pulling away from Hazel's touch and instead choosing to sit curled into the fetal position on the ground absentmindedly kissing the scars on his knuckles.

"Frank and I found it maybe a month ago," She continued. "We can have food and resources close to us without being out in the open where Camp Jupiter can find us."

Frank sheepishly rubbed his neck. "That's kind of why I shot you down. Sorry about that. We can never be too careful. I saw pegasi and thought it was Camp Jupiter and I panicked."

"Why Spain though?"

"We'd been trying to make it to Paris after hearing that Piper was staying there. Every once in a while we can get Iris messages to Camp and get updates. I talked to Percy not too long ago and he told us about her moving."

Will broke out of his daze, looking in Frank's direction at his mention of familiar names. He cocked his head to one side like a confused puppy and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

Hazel stared at Will with an extremely concerned expression on her face. "Is he okay?"

"I hope so," Nico said. "I'm guessing getting hypnotized and almost drowned within half an hour kind of jogged his brain a little. It's his first time out of the house, he's not used to these kind of things yet."

Now it was Hazel and Frank's turn to give Nico blank stares.

"Incident at the zoo. It's a long story," said Nico. "As for Camp Jupiter hunting you guys down, you won't have to worry much longer. If all goes according to plan, the Greek and Roman sides will be reunited soon and Reyna can take her place as praetor again."

"Where is Reyna, by the way?" Frank asked.

"Back at the park probably losing her mind wondering what's taking us so long," Nico admitted. "I need to get back there and bring her and the statue here before the Spanish police start questioning her and she starts threatening them with sharp objects. You could come back with us if you want."

Hazel shook her head. "I don't think we should risk it. Plus, I don't think Scipio and his friend should be carrying any more weight than necessary." She sat closest to the two pegasi, patting Scipio's muzzle.

"She'll be glad to see you two, though. You'll be the first people we've seen from Camp since she ran away, save from an unfortunate encounter with Octavian yesterday."

Saying that sentence out loud felt odd. Had it really only been a day?

"Wait," said Frank, "you're telling me you ran into Octavian and he didn't publicly execute you?"

"He tried, but we got away in time," Nico fished through his pockets, "and not without looting him first." He pulled a golden drachma from his pocket and tossed it in Hazel's direction. "Their army is definitely still chasing after us though."

"Is Camp Jupiter really that bad?" Will asked, finally speaking up.

"No, not at all," Frank said. "It's just that... well, years of rivalry has kind of put the two sides at conflict."

"Octavian tried to kill us. You almost killed us because you thought we were on their side," Will pointed out.

"He's really sorry about that," said Hazel, "and so am I. It's just that-"

"And Reyna and Nico both had to run away to keep themselves safe. And Piper is forced to live in seclusion. And your other friends can't even talk to you in public because they'll be putting themselves in danger." Will grit his teeth and held back tears. "This whole situation is awful."

Nico had the urge to take Will's hand the way Reyna sometimes did to comfort him, then he pushed the thought away as quickly as it came. Instead, he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The world is a really scary place sometimes," Nico said. "Trust me, I know better than anyone."

Will looked up at Nico and frowned. Instead of arguing like Nico thought he would, he completely changed the topic. "Your face is still bleeding." He used the edge of his sleeve to wipe away a drop of blood and kissed the side of Nico's face near his eye where a tree branch had scratched him earlier. The cut instantly closed up.

Nico pulled his hand away and coughed into his fist. "Um, thank you."

"You're welcome," Will shrugged and went back to tending his own wounds.

The expression on Nico's face must have been hilarious, since Hazel had to hold back laughter. Frank raised an eyebrow at him. Nico glared at the both of them.

"_As I was saying_," said Nico, "with a Greek and a Roman working together to get the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood, it should show both sides that we can work together and do good things, so this whole rivalry should be over soon."

Scipio trotted over to Nico, nudging his side and flapping his wings impatiently.

"Reyna must be calling for him. " Nico frowned. "I should go pick her up." He stood and mounted the pegasus. "If we're not back here in twenty minutes, well... watch out for him." Nico nodded towards Will, then pulled on Scipio's reigns. The pegasus took off, disappearing into the sky.

Hazel and Frank slowly turned to stare at Will, who still had his right hand rested against his mouth.

"Are you two going to ask me about my past too?" he asked hesitantly. "I feel like everybody wants to know who I am. I won't have many answers for you though."

"We know who you are," Hazel said. "Roman demigods grew up hearing your story the same way the Greeks did. We didn't even know Greek demigods existed until a few years ago, but we all knew about you. Apollo shares the same name in his Greek and Roman forms so only small details were changed depending on who was telling it."

Will nodded. He figured they'd already known. Nico had referred to him as Apollo's lost son without hesitation earlier and they seemed to understand perfectly clearly how important that was. There was one thing he was curious about that hadn't been brought up yet though. "In the stories about me, or about my dad, has anyone ever said anything about a prophecy?"

"Apollo is the god of prophecy," Frank said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And poetry and music and medicine and-"

"No, stop it," Will interrupted, "I mean, I know all of that, but you haven't heard anything specifically about me? _'Of gold from the Gods shall a hero rise. A unique gift, an immeasurable prize._'?"

Hazel shook her head. "I'm not familiar with it. Do you know the rest of the lines?"

"No," Will lied. "Never mind, maybe it was just something I overheard as a kid. Don't worry about it."

So no one knew but him. That thought was both relieving and terrifying. A moment later, Nico reappeared from the shadows with Reyna and the statue. He stumbled over to his previous spot near the fire and sat down, burying his head between his knees. Reyna fished a bottle of nectar from her bag, uncapped it, and handed it to him. He pushed her away and shook his head.

"I'm fine, I just need to rest for a little while," Nico protested.

"That's what you said approximately two seconds before you passed out this morning," Reyna said. "I'm not going to have you fainting on me again, Nico."

Before he could protest, she tilted his chin back and poured a small stream of the gold-colored liquid in his mouth. He glared at her but swallowed gratefully.

"You need to be more careful," she said more softly. "Are you sure you'll be able to make the next big jump? I'm worried about you."

"Trust me, I'm worried about him too," Hazel said. Reyna hadn't noticed the other two demigods sitting behind her before, but now she abandoned all thought of Nico and raced over to greet her two old friends, hugging them so hard Will was sure they probably couldn't breathe.

Nico huffed. "So much for being worried about me."

Reyna didn't hear his sarcastic comment. She was too busy excitedly rambling. "Where have you two been all this time? How did you manage to avoid being seen? Why haven't you contacted us in the past three years?"

"You missed this whole conversation," Frank laughed. "We just spent the past few hours explaining everything to Nico and Will."

"Well I would have been here if _someon_e," Reyna glared at Nico, "would have come back right away to get me."

"And I _would_ have come back earlier," Nico defended himself, "if Frank hadn't shot us out of the sky."

"Actually he just shot _me_-" Will tried to interject but was cut off by Hazel.

"How about we stop putting blame on each other and agree that we're all wrong here?" she asked.

The whole group fell silent. Then Reyna shrugged and sat down near Hazel and Frank. "I'm cool with that if you are. So, storytime?"

"Well, you know how it started..." Hazel began.

Hazel and Frank delved into their story again for Reyna. Since Will had already heard it, he only barely paid attention. He found it much more interesting to study the scene around him.

On his right, Nico slowly sipped nectar from a bottle. The dark circles under his eyes seemed even more prominent in the firelight. Every once in a while he'd interrupt Hazel or Frank and add in details they forgot to mention the second time around, but other than that, he was quiet.

"Oh, right, that was _before_ the quest. Percy had recognized you, even through the amnesia."

Hazel and Frank sat close to each other, their arms and knees brushing against one another. They seemed so natural together, finishing each other's sentences and often speaking in unison. They had been through so much together and it showed. Their close bond was obvious just from watching them interact for a short while. Will couldn't help but be a little jealous. Exactly what he was jealous of, he couldn't be sure.

"... I wouldn't have survived out here without her. Sure, I can hunt and defend myself for a while, but without her finding the gold to pay for us traveling we would have never made it this far. Plus it would have been awfully lonely out here alone..."

Reyna, of course, was completely engrossed in the story. Her dark brown eyes were wide and curious. She probably didn't realize the way she would lean forward and sit up taller when things got particularly exciting or suspenseful. She never seemed to tire of adventure.

"You mean you took down twelve hellhounds on your own with nothing but a dagger? Wow, that's impressive even by Pluto kid standards..."

The stories slowly faded into silence as the night grew darker and eyelids grew heavier. The flames of the fire died down to embers and the park around them was nearly silent, save for the crickets chirping and the slow breathing of their friends sleeping. Even after it seemed like the five demigods had discussed everything there was to be talked about, there were other questions on Will's mind that were bothering him.

"Who is Percy Jackson?" Will asked Nico after everyone else was asleep.

Nico blinked at him twice. "What?"

"Who is Percy?" he repeated. "Piper mentioned that he was at Camp with Jason, and earlier Hazel brought him up and said that she'd been talking to him and that he recognized you when he had amnesia. I've asked you before and you said it was none of my business, but since all of your friends have talked about him, I'm assuming he's pretty important. Who is he?"

"No one," Nico mumbled. "He's another friend of ours. One of the seven of the prophecy like Hazel, Frank and Piper."

"That's all?"

"That's _all_." Nico repeated firmly.

Will knew he was lying, of course. It must have been a sensitive topic. Will knew exactly how that felt. He mentally debated with himself on whether or not he should bring up the prophecy, but when he opened his mouth to talk, no noise came out. He still didn't have the heart to tell them. Instead he combatted his conflicting thoughts with a different question.

"When was the first time you almost killed an endangered snake?" Yes, it was quite possibly the weirdest question he could have asked in that moment, but he was curious. And it was a good way to get his mind off of the more stressful topics. "Reyna said you did it again, so obviously today wasn't the first time," he rambled. "But when would you have possibly done something like that before?"

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Nico's mouth. "That is a really long story, actually."

"We have time," Will pointed out.

Nico sighed. "I guess we do. Well, it happened when I was fifteen, about six months after I left Camp Jupiter and a little while after I'd run into Reyna and started traveling with her. We were traveling through Italy and there was a man there who was illegally smuggling exotic animals across the borders..."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure it was him?"<p>

"I'm positive," the young girl stuttered. She was the same girl who'd spotted them in Rome. Last time, she'd slipped up. She hadn't given Octavian enough information. She had failed him. But this time she had more proof. "Nico di Angelo was riding Reyna's pegasus over Spain. He touched down in Serra de Collserola Natural Park and met up with fugitives Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang. The blonde boy was with him."

Octavian's face was stoic. He sat at a makeshift throne in the back of a large tent, one of many temporary camps they'd set up while hunting for their top priority fugitives across Europe. "And what makes you think he's who you say he is?"

"He demonstrated exceptional healing power," she explained. "He healed a wound on the di Angelo boy with just a touch. I also overheard Hazel Levesque tell him something about hearing his story at Camp. Plus he looks like the spitting image of a young Apollo. I'm almost positive this boy is his lost son."

Octavian considered this for a moment, then snapped his fingers twice. Three loyal members of the first cohort marched into the room. They obediently knelt before him and bowed their heads.

"Yes, Pontifex?" the tallest one asked.

"Call off your plans for bringing Reyna Ramirez-Arellano and Nico di Angelo back to Camp Jupiter for execution. Instead I want you to assemble a search party for the location and capture of their companion, Will Solace. Take him alive. I'd like a word with my infamous relative."


	6. Sanabant Laesus

Will had lost track of time. He couldn't sleep, so instead he decided to try to count how many hours had passed since Nico fell asleep last night recalling his infamous tale of how he'd managed to bust an entire ring of black market exotic animal smugglers trading throughout Europe. Sure, he may have accidentally injured a few of the animals along the way, which explains the recurring snake incident, but on the whole it was a good deed.

Nico had fallen asleep shortly after recalling his tale, which had left Will alone. He was stuck with his thoughts again, too afraid to wake anyone else. The morning sun rising slowly between the trees was one of the constant reminders that another day had passed and his eighteenth birthday was quickly approaching.

He tried his hardest to take his mind off by focusing on other things. The forest clearing was silent, save for the birds twittering and the sounds of his friends deep in their slumber. Nico occasionally muttered in his sleep, something Will couldn't quite understand about someone named Bianca and a quest. Reyna slept with her arms folded under her head, snoring lightly. Hazel had her head rested on Frank's shoulder.

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. To think, this ragtag group of demigods had fought for their lives for years, facing battles Will could never think of enduring himself, defying all odds and living to tell the tale. Yet they still couldn't fight off exhaustion.

His moment of peace was cut short when a knife was held to his throat and his hands were forced behind his back.

"Stay still and stay quiet and we won't hurt you," a voice whispered in his ear.

A bead of sweat dripped down his temple. He tried to turn to see the faces of his assailants, but he'd barely moved an inch when his head was violently jerked back into place.

"She said stay still," a different, more gravelly sounding voice said, "Unless you want this knife pressed deeper into your neck."

"We aren't supposed to hurt him," a third voice lectured. "Pontifex Maximus said-"

The first man growled, angry and impatient. "I don't care what he said, if this kid gives me any trouble I'll slit his throat."

Will couldn't believe his friends couldn't hear what was happening. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the first person who spoke, a tall lanky girl, was swirling patterns in the air with her hand. _She's altering the Mist_, he realized. Even if Reyna or Hazel or anyone did hear what was going on, if they looked up, they wouldn't see anything.

"Why can't we just take out di Angelo and Reyna right now? They're just laying there," the third voice asked.

"That's not part of the plan," the girl said. "And you don't disobey Octavian's plans."

More than anything, he wanted to kick or scream or do something to get their attention, but it was no use. Plus, he wouldn't want to put them in danger. They would be disoriented and unprepared. Nico was still recovering from his most recent shadow jump. Reyna, Frank, and Hazel's weapons lay scattered a few feet away from them. If anything, drawing attention to himself would only get them hurt.

He knew he didn't stand a chance if he tried to escape. He silently obeyed and didn't put up a fight as he was bound, gagged, and dragged away by three campers in purple Roman capes.

* * *

><p>The moment Nico woke up he knew something was wrong. He barely had one eye open before he got an awful feeling in his stomach that told him today was not going to be a good day. When he'd noticed a complete absence of blonde hair in the forest clearing he panicked.<p>

"Wake up!" he stood up as quickly as he could, tripping over his own feet. He shook Reyna and Hazel's shoulders a little too violently. "Guys, wake up!"

Hazel sat up, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. Reyna, as usual, refused to even lift her head. Frank, however, jolted out of his sleep, reaching for his weapons before realizing they were resting against a tree a few feet away.

"Wha's happening? Are we under attack?" Hazel asked. She noticed the frantic look on Nico's face, then glanced over to the spot where Will had been sitting the night before. "Oh no."

It was good to know that if they _were_ under attack at this hour in the morning, Reyna would be completely useless. She still say with her head buried in her arms. Nico shook her again. "Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, I swear to all of the gods on Olympus-"

She clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing him. She opened one eye and glared at him. "I thought I told you never to use my full name."

He soundlessly gestured behind him to the empty spot next to the campfire and Reyna hand fell slack. She swore under her breath.

"All of you fell asleep? No one thought to keep watch overnight?" Nico questioned the other three.

Reyna frowned at him. "_You_ were the last one awake, weren't you? It should have been your responsibility."

As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. If anything, it was his fault, which only made him feel worse. Nico's hands balled into fists at his sides. Hazel stepped forward. "Nico, calm down."

"I'm perfectly calm," he forced out through gritted teeth.

"No you aren't," Hazel took his hand. "I know how you act when you panic over little things. Maybe he's just off exploring or getting food. We told him about all of the tourist attractions in the park, maybe he's in one of the shops."

"He wouldn't have left on his own."

"Nico, you've barely known this boy for three days, you don't know what he'd do," Hazel reassured him. She sat down, tugging his hand and pulling him with her. "He'll be okay. You can't jump to conclusions, you'll only stress yourself out more."

Slowly, Nico's expression relaxed, his free hand uncurled. Reyna was always impressed at how easily Hazel could help calm her brother down.

"I know, I know. It's just that..." he sighed, "I'm worried about the kid, alright? He barely knows how to survive out in the real world. He's oblivious to danger and he's probably somewhere confused and scared and it's our fault we weren't keeping better track of him."

Hazel and Reyna exchanged a look. Hazel raised an eyebrow and Reyna smirked.

"What?" Nico asked.

"Nothing," Reyna said, acting completely innocent.

"He'll be okay," Hazel repeated to him. "Don't worry about it."

Nico looked up at Reyna, who still had a smug look on her face. Suddenly it clicked in his head. "Look, if you're suggesting-"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Reyna insisted.

"It's not like that."

"I never said it was."

"But you're smiling."

"I could be smiling about anything."

"Am I the only one who is confused here? What's going on?" Frank asked.

"Nothing," Hazel said. She seemed distracted by something behind Nico, but when he turned around, he didn't see anything.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head and stood silently. She took slow, cautious steps towards Will's spot next to the campfire and stared.

"Hazel, what's wrong?" he repeated.

"Something just... seems off about this," she said. If Nico focused hard enough and squinted a little, he could see what she was talking about. The air around them seemed to shimmer slightly, but it was just barely noticeable. With a wave of her hand she dispelled the Mist and the entire scene changed. Will's backpack lay on the ground where he sat the night before, which was odd since he wouldn't have just left it there if he went off exploring. That's when they noticed the footprints.

Four sets of footprints led off into the trees. Three shoe prints, and one set that looked like it was dragged off. Hazel and Reyna both gasped. Frank nocked an arrow in his bow and turned, aiming at the trees behind him, afraid he might be the next victim.

"Now can I panic?" Nico asked.

* * *

><p>It took Nico, Hazel and Frank exactly twelve minutes to find their first lead on where Will was taken.<p>

Reyna had volunteered to stay and keep guard over the Athena Parthenos while the others ventured into the shops and restaurants in Serra de Collserola park. At first, they'd mostly just encountered tourists who'd cower in fear at the sight of three disheveled teenagers with threatening-looking weapons. It was safe to assume the mortals could see Hazel's spatha and Nico's stygian iron sword for what they really were, since no one dared to come within ten feet of them. The two of them couldn't have looked very threatening, considering Nico was barely five and a half feet tall and Hazel was even shorter. But with Frank standing at six foot three behind them and carrying his bow in hand, they managed to look intimidating enough to scare some information out of people.

They'd all come to the same conclusion: that one of two people could be behind Will's disappearance, Gaea or Camp Jupiter. There was no arguing that their best bet would be to scope out the area and try to force information out of any camper they could get their hands on. Walking through the paths of the park, they saw plenty of Romans from Camp, but none of them were ideal for interrogating. They were all in large groups or armed. They needed someone who was alone and vulnerable who'd be willing to give up information.

And that's when they spotted the dark-haired man guzzling his weight in drinks at the bar through a restaurant window.

Nico vaguely remembered Dakota as the Kool-Aid addict from the Fifth Cohort back at Camp Jupiter. As a child of Bacchus, he'd been drinking it almost constantly to replace the craving of wine that had been passed down to him by his father. But now that he was 21 and the drinking age laws in Europe were much less strict than in America, he highly doubted his glass was still filled with fruit juice.

A greeter at the front of the restaurant asked what Nico could only guess meant "Table for three?" in Spanish, but Frank and Nico rushed right past her and headed into the back towards the bar. Hazel paused in front of the host's podium, awkwardly nodded and muttered "Sorry," under her breath before chasing after her brother and her boyfriend.

Before Dakota could even blink, Nico and Frank had taken up the two empty seats next to him and blocked his way out, should he try to escape. In his drunken stupor, it took him more than a few seconds to realize what had happened, but when he recognized Frank, he choked on his drink.

"Frank Zhang?" his words slurred slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Dakota," Frank said. "Shouldn't you be in California right now?"

The bartender slid a drink menu toward Frank and he speared it with an arrow without a second glance. Dakota stared at the quiver full of sharp arrows on Frank's back and gulped.

"Listen Dakota," Frank began, "we know Camp Jupiter is here, and we have a feeling that they've stolen something really important to us. Now, you could tell us where it might be-"

"Or I could summon a few dead souls and see if you'll be willing to tell _them_," Nico finished. "And I don't think you want me to do that."

"No, that's okay," said Dakota. "I'll tell you."

Frank glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Nico. He hadn't expected it to be that easy. Nico simply shrugged.

"I'm only here because Octavian ordered search parties all over the place to look for you guys," Dakota explained. "To be totally honest, I only came so he wouldn't punish me like he did Gwen and Bobby and the others who refused to take his orders. I'm not on his side. He called off the search for Nico and Reyna some time last night and made your friend his top priority."

"So he _does _have Will," Hazel said. "Where is he keeping him?"

Dakota shook his head. "I don't know. He's been setting up temporary camps everywhere. He could have taken him to any one of them."

"Did he have a more permanent place he was staying?" Hazel asked.

"Maybe," he slurred. "I think I heard him say something about Madrid and a temple once. I don't know exactly where, though. He only tells his top lieutenants that kind of stuff."

"Madrid. The capitol city of Spain that's more than five hundred miles away and has a population of more than three million. Fantastic," Nico deadpanned. "Let's just check every temple in the city and rescue Will. Shouldn't be hard at all."

"There's a temple dedicated to Augustus in Madrid," Hazel pointed out. "Augustus was originally named Gaius Octavias. That's where Octavian's name comes from. It's a long shot, but maybe it's a possibility?"

"Hiding out in a temple built for his namesake. That's extremely narcissistic. Sounds exactly like something Octavian would do," Nico said.

"Glad I could be of assistance. Now if you'll excuse me..." Dakota downed the rest of the drink in the glass in front of him and slammed it down on the counter. The bartender immediately rushed over and refilled it.

Hazel, Frank, and Nico exchanged concerned glances. Nico nodded his head toward the door, hoping the other two would get the message and leave. Dakota's alcoholism was probably something that should be addressed, but it was a problem for another day. Thankfully, Frank and Hazel had the same idea. Frank removed the arrow he'd lodged into the bar earlier and the three of them strolled out of the restaurant as casually as possible. Hazel apologized to the host at the front again as they left.

"So what now?" Frank asked as they walked the path back towards the woods.

"Now," said Nico. "We tell Reyna to get ready for a detour to Madrid."

* * *

><p>Will didn't know where he was. He was blindfolded and gagged and the ties around his wrists were seriously starting to hurt. His attackers led him into what he guessed was a large room, judging by how their footsteps echoed. A dark laugh came from somewhere in front of him.<p>

"Excellent," the voice sent a shiver down his spine. Octavian. "How hard was it to get him?"

"Not hard at all," the mist-altering girl from earlier spoke. "He was an obedient little victim."

"Leave him here," Octavian commanded her. "I'd like a word with him alone."

The three campers left, their footprints' echoes fading as they walked further through the hall. Will would have much preferred the knife-happy kidnapper to stay in the room than to be alone with Octavian. He'd heard nothing but bad things about Camp Jupiter's former augur. Like how he'd been suspected in spearing and nearly killing a girl over a war game. Hazel had mentioned something about the Doors of Death being open and allowing her to return to life, which Will didn't really understand. He was far too busy scolding himself for being stupid enough to try to face Octavian alone back at the tavern. And now they met face to face again.

"Will Solace, the legend himself," Will could hear Octavian walking towards him. His blindfold was violently ripped off and he found himself mere inches away from blue eyes and blonde hair that reminded him so much of himself. But Octavian had a ghastly look to him. His eyes were more dull and grey looking. His hair was as pale as straw and hung loosely in his face. His skin was so pale, as if he'd never seen the sun in his life. The most unsetting part about him was his sharp, upturned features that made him look like he was constantly plotting some evil scheme.

"After all these years. I would have thought you were dead by now," he mused. "Or at least you would have been strong enough to escape, or better yet, overpower Gaea's forces. Yet here you are, in _my_ control. And to think Apollo deemed you worthy of his blessing."

Octavian laughed humorlessly. He walked in circles around Will, examining him. Will tried his hardest to act brave, but he couldn't help trembling at the very mention of his father. Apollo's blessing, his healing gift - which he'd originally thought was Gaea's doing until he learned the truth about his past - was supposed to be a secret. But of course, Octavian had his ways of knowing about it.

"I guess you're not as powerful as the legends say you are. Or maybe _I'm_ just stronger than everyone realized. Now, what to do with you?"

He paused in front of Will and traced a hand down the side of his face, parroting a gesture Gaea used to give him. Will was tempted to bite him or spit in his face but he knew that it'd only anger him more, and he didn't want to find out what other horrors Octavian was capable of when he got angry. Instead, he sat still as Octavian removed the gag from his mouth.

"Of course I could return you to the Gods and be honored and heavily rewarded for bringing back Apollo's favorite child. But I think it would be more fun to take you apart one by one and find out what makes you so special. We already know about the healing. Judging by your voice and the power of your hymn, you're also exceptionally talented with music. What about archery? Poetry? Maybe you have the gift of prophecy. I know many people who would pay a hefty price for their own personal oracle, especially one as special as you."

"Wouldn't you rather offer up your gift?" Will asked. He'd been told enough background on Octavian from the others to blackmail him effectively. "After all, you _do_ have the gift of prophecy, don't you? Apollo blessed you like he did me. Or was that all a lie to get people to follow you?"

Octavian's hand reached back up and slapped him hard across the face. He vision blurred and he could taste blood in his mouth from accidentally biting down on his tongue. He could already feel that there'd be a huge red mark on his face later.

"Look like your hands are tied. You can't heal that now, can you?" Octavian growled. "Now as I was saying, I _would_ offer my services up to anyone who needed them, but I'd much rather let you do the work. After all, they'd pay much more for the famous son of Apollo. You have a heavy bounty over your head and I could use a few thousand extra golden drachmas."

Will feigned confidence as best as he could, grinning widely. "That's just like you, Octavian. Having other people do your dirty work. Too much of a coward to do anything for yourself."

For a moment he was afraid he would get slapped again, but instead, Octavian raised his left hand and snapped twice. "Claire!" he called out.

Not even five seconds later, the mist-manipulator from earlier stepped into the room. She must have been outside listening to this whole conversation. She knelt before Octavian and bowed her head to him.

"Yes, Pontifex?" she asked.

"Stay here with him," Octavian ordered. "Get any information you can out of him."

She nodded furiously. "Will do, Pontifex."

Octavian turned on his heel and headed towards the door. Before leaving, he turned over his shoulder. "Oh, Claire?"

"Yes?"

"Good work tracking him down. I'll be sure to put in a good note for you."

She nodded again. "Thank you, Octavian." Will could have sworn he saw the slightest blush on her cheeks at the compliment, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. As Will got a better look at her, he realized it was the same young girl he'd seen giving Octavian an offering at the tavern. The same girl who first gave Octavian information about Nico and Reyna's whereabouts.

"So I see you got a promotion." Will blurted out.

Claire turned and glared at him. She knelt down to his height. "You know, for a famous kid I grew up hearing about, you don't seem that impressive."

"Neither does Octavian, but you still like him," Will said. "That's why you obey him so easily. You've got a little crush on your Pontifex Maximus, is that it? You know he's too old for you, right?"

He'd guessed correctly. This time the blush was definitely there, her cheeks growing bright red. Her amber-colored eyes flashed with anger. "Shut up," she sneered. "I'm here to ask you the questions, not the other way around."

"Ask away, then," Will leaned back on his cuffed hands. "As you can see, I'm not going anywhere."

Will's nonchalance surprised him until he realized it was only because Claire seemed to be as terrified and clueless as he was. They were both new at this. Only Will could feign confidence much better than she could, which gave him an advantage.

Claire sat cross-legged in front of him. "I'm going to ask a few simple questions to start. What is your name?"

"Will," he said.

"Your _full_ name," Claire clarified.

"William Everett Solace."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Your birthday?"

"June twenty-first. But you know all of this already," Will said.

Claire glared at him. "That's not the point. I'm trying to test to see if you'd lie to me. Do you have any special abilities?"

"My healing powers," said Will. "You know, my unique gift that Octavian intends to exploit for money. I thought you had eavesdropped on his whole rousing speech about prostituting me for my power."

Claire ignored his sarcasm and continued questioning him. "Do you have the gift of prophecy?"

"No."

"What about talent in archery?"

"Not that I know of, no," Will tried to sound as bored as possible, which wasn't hard.

"Poetry? Music? Art?"

"No, no, and no."

"Do you have any other talents?"

"I'm great at holding conversation," Will smiled.

Claire groaned and rubbed her temples. As Will got a better look at her, he realized she could have been very pretty were it not for the constant scowl on her face. She had long hair tied back in a high ponytail, almost the same amber-brown color as her eyes. Her skin was mahogany colored, whether naturally or from her summer tan he couldn't be sure. And as he'd noticed before, she was young, at least two years younger than he was. And Octavian was taking advantage of her because she listened to every word he said and obeyed his every command.

It reminded him of how Gaea used to treat him. How he'd listen to her without a second thought and let his admiration and love get the best of him. How he thought listening to his 'grandmother' was what he was supposed to do, because she was in charge and she knew best.

Suddenly he felt sorry for her, because in a way, she was just like him. Except she didn't have a chance to escape.

* * *

><p>The worst part of this whole thing wasn't the fact that they had to charge straight into Camp Jupiter territory. The worst part wasn't having to scour the area trying to find the building where Octavian was holding Will hostage. No, the worst part was that they couldn't just shadow jump there.<p>

Reyna had chastised him earlier for even thinking about it. "There's no way in Hades' name that I'm going to let you try a 380 mile jump after you could barely travel five miles without getting dizzy. You'd never make it. Not in the state you're in right now."

Which was why he now stubbornly sat behind her on Scipio's back as they flew at sixty-five miles per hour - compared to shadow travel, it was agonizingly slow - toward Spain's capital city. At this rate the ride there would take more than five hours.

Hazel and Frank had promised to keep the Athena Parthenos safe back at the national park, but Nico still couldn't help but worry. What if Camp Jupiter tried to come back for the statue? What if they overpowered their friends? And worse, what if they'd already hurt Will? Then this whole side quest would be for nothing and they'd lose everything. He tried to shake off the negative thoughts but they kept pressing into the back of his mind. As if they were reminding him, _Hey, everything in your life is bound to go horribly wrong at some point, why not let it happen today and get the pain over with before you get too attached?_

"Stop that, it'll be alright," Reyna said, as if she could read his mind. "Hazel and Frank are two of the strongest demigods we know, they'll protect the statue."

"And what about us?" Nico asked.

Reyna frowned. "Well, we've survived worse."

"But what about..." Nico didn't have to finish his sentence.

"He'll be okay too," Reyna said, though she sounded like she didn't believe herself. She hesitated before asking her next question. "Are you sure it's not like that? With you and him?"

Nico knew exactly what she meant. "I'm sure," he said. Technically he wasn't lying. He _hadn't_ ever thought about Will in that way. He'd only barely met the kid. It was a ridiculous thought to even have. Besides, he had enough going on in his life right now. He didn't need to be distracted by pointless things like that.

_But in the short time you've known him he's proven himself to be both brave and caring. That's definitely something worth noticing, _the little voice in the back of his head said.

_Shut up, _he told it.

_And he cares enough to try to get you to open up about your past. The only people who have ever done that are Hazel and Reyna, and they care an awful lot about you, _it pestered him. _He must care about you too..._

_I said shut up._

_He kissed you at the campfire last night, _it reminded him.

Nico must have gotten so frustrated he groaned out loud, because Reyna cast a worried glance over her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Nico grumbled. "Just keep flying."

Nico had a feeling this would be the longest five hours of his life.


	7. Fates Tentabis

The first thing they noticed when touching down in Madrid was the architecture. The buildings and bridges and streets had so much Romanesque influence, it felt like they'd never even left Rome after making their getaway with the Athena Parthenos.

Reyna was probably more impressed than she should have been by all of the buildings and statues. She kept staring and pointing and rambling about the difference between Tuscan and Composite columns. All Nico could think about was how much harder it was going to be to find Augustus' temple among all of the thousands of similar-looking buildings.

Nico dismounted from Scipio's back first, grateful to be back on solid ground. Flying made him anxious, and a five-hour flight on horseback with nothing but is negative thoughts to keep him company was quite possibly the worst way to travel.

Reyna hopped to the ground and scratched Scipio behind the ears. "We're going to be a while, buddy. Why don't you go find somewhere to stay where you won't draw too much attention to yourself? I'll whistle for you if I need you."

Scipio whinnied in protest, but Reyna shook her head. "I know, but you can't come with. We'll be okay, it'll only take a couple of hours, I promise."

Nico stared blankly at the pair. He highly doubted the pegasus could actually understand a word of what Reyna was saying, but he decided not to question it. He'd seen her do stranger things before.

She gave Scipio one last scratch behind the ears, then he took off and disappeared into the sky.

"So," Reyna began. "Where to first?"

"First," Nico said, "we need some kind of transportation."

Twenty minutes later he immensely regretted that suggestion.

"You know, this isn't exactly the kind of transportation I had in mind," Nico said, having extreme difficulty keeping his feet on the pedals of his rental bike.

Meanwhile, Reyna was riding in circles around him, trying her hardest not to laugh.

"I cannot believe you never learned how to ride a bike," she said. "I mean, really Nico? What sixteen-year-old doesn't know how to ride a bike?"

They had just paid for a six-hour rental at a small kiosk a little ways away from a large plaza. There were roads branching off in all directions and men in bright yellow and orange tee-shirts leading groups of bikers on guided tours. Reyna and Nico had opted for the free-roaming package, which allowed them to take the bikes anywhere within the city without a tour guide as long as they were returned on time. At this rate, they'd have difficulty getting more than ten feet away without Nico losing his balance and falling over.

"This isn't as easy as it looks," he muttered. "It's not my fault the gods made me spend majority of my childhood running and fearing for my life. I didn't exactly have time to learn how to work one of these things."

The girl working the bike rentals walked over to Reyna and handed her a ticket slip and maps of the city. She gestured to Nico and asked Reyna something he couldn't understand, probably something along the lines of _"Are you sure he isn't going to kill himself on that thing?" _Reyna nodded in response and pedaled over to Nico.

"You two better not have been talking about me," he said.

"Oh, we were," said Reyna sarcastically. "We were just discussing how ridiculously tourist-y you look. I should have told her about your zebra hat. What happened to that by the way?"

Nico hadn't even given it a second thought. It must have fallen off into the trees or sank somewhere in the water after he had to rescue Will and his pegasus from certain death. And now Will was in trouble again.

"It doesn't matter," he snapped. "We're wasting time, let's go."

"Hey," Reyna said, reaching over and taking Nico's hand, her tone suddenly much softer. "I'm sorry, alright? Look, I have the maps right here." She opened one up and spread it out in front of them, pointing at locations. "We'll check here and here, then head North into the more isolated parts of town. We'll find him. It'll be okay."

"I hope you're right," Nico whispered.

* * *

><p>Claire had given up asking questions six hours into her interrogation when Will had started giving her the silent treatment. She'd threatened him countless times, but her words no longer seemed to faze him. He wasn't stupid. He knew she wouldn't do anything unless Octavian told her to, and he hadn't spoken to either of them since they'd first kidnapped Will.<p>

Instead, she had begun pacing around the room, trying to figure out some other way to get some information out of him. She had to get this job done, lest she risk making Octavian angry. She'd seen what he does to the people who disappoint him, and she didn't want to become one of them.

Will, on the other hand, was completely content with staying silent. Sure, his legs were nearly numb from sitting in the same position on the floor for so long and he was slowly growing irritated of the sound of Claire's pacing around the room, but he had no doubt that by now his friends would be coming to rescue him any minute now.

Or maybe that was just the hope talking.

Maybe no one was coming and he'd be a prisoner again after his few days of freedom. Maybe Octavian would sell him out to some kind of Underworld demon or minor god seeking revenge and use him as a weapon.

The constant _click, click, click_ of Claire's boots was so distracting he couldn't even concentrate on imagining his possible future imprisonment.

"Aren't you tired of standing?" Will broke the silence. Really, he just wanted the clicking to stop. Thankfully his plan worked.

She stopped in her tracks. "A little," she admitted.

Will gestured to the spot next to him as well as he could with both hands tied behind his back. "Sit down."

She looked him over suspiciously, but then shrugged and sat on the ground next to him with her legs crossed.

"So..." Will began, but Claire cut him off.

"If you think I'm okay with this, I'm not," she said. "I'm actually tired and very bored and very, very annoyed with you right now. But I have nothing better to do right now since you won't tell me anything."

Will shrugged. "Fair enough. Since you're bored, how about I ask you something instead?"

"Or how about you shut up and just cooperate so we can be done here?"

"What's your last name?" he ignored her.

"Hathaway. Claire Christine Hathaway," she said. "Why do you care?"

"I'm just curious. And you don't seem to be having much fun creating your own little rut in the ground by walking back and forth, so let's talk," he said. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen," she muttered. "I know, I'm young and stupid and involving myself with all the wrong people, I don't need to hear it."

"I wasn't going to say that," Will said. "So have you always worked under Octavian? Ever since you first went to Camp Jupiter?"

She wasn't quite sure why she was even answering his questions, but it was the first conversation she'd had in months that didn't involve torture tactics, war strategy, or how much they hated the Greeks. Her comrades weren't the most interesting people. She was grateful for a change in topic for once. "I was twelve when I got there," she said. "It was a couple months before Reyna left and Octavian took over. Once she was gone, he was the leader. We all obeyed mostly because we actually thought he was doing the right thing but..." She sighed.

"But what?" Will asked.

"But now a lot of people are disagreeing with his ways. More people are changing sides and rebelling against him. I can't say I blame them. There are some people who are brave enough to stand up against him and leave. And the rest of us, well, the rest of us are still here, doing things like this."

The door opened with a crash. Octavian stood in the doorway, glaring down at Claire. She immediately jumped away from Will and dropped to one knee, bowing to Octavian.

"Stop that," Octavian snapped. "What is going on in here? Were you doing what I told you to do?" he questioned her.

"Of course," she replied obediently. "I was interrogating him as you asked."

"Get up!" he ordered her. She slowly stood, refusing to look him in the eye. "Why are you lying to me, Claire?"

A bead of sweat dripped down her temple. She trembled slightly as she took a shaky breath. "I _was_ interrogating him, it's just that-"

He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and yanked her forward. "I don't like being lied to," he hissed.

"I'm sorry, Pontifex Maximus, it won't happen again," she whimpered.

"It better not," Octavian shoved her away and turned toward the exit. "Make yourself more useful and go on guard duty at the south doors. I'll get someone else to take care of this." With that, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Silence fell over them, only interrupted by Claire's occasional cough. She reached and touched the red mark showing up on her neck.

"Now do you want to tell me how stupid I am for staying here?" she said, her voice scratchy.

"Why would I call you stupid? You don't have a choice on whether or not you have to deal with his abuse," Will said. "That's pretty much been my entire life up until now, remember?"

Claire slowly turned and stared at him, as if she were just realizing something. "Gaea. Of course," she said. "I'm sorry, I never even thought about it that way. This whole war is going on between her and the gods and you're right at the center of it."

Will nodded. "And I know what it's like to be trapped somewhere with no way out. I lived that way for seventeen years. I hate to see you doing the same thing."

She didn't reply. Instead, she unsheathed the dagger at her hip and cut the ties around Will's hands.

"Keep your hands behind your back and pretend they're still tied up," she said. "Play along with whoever takes over for me. Stall as long as you can. I'm going to look for a way to get you out of here."

* * *

><p>She counted the seconds ticking by in her head. Exactly twelve minutes after Octavian left, the two male campers who had accompanied her earlier on the mission to kidnap Will walked in the room.<p>

Like most of the guys at Camp Jupiter, these two were nothing special; just two angry and tough-looking thugs who obeyed commands without a second thought and got sick pleasure from hurting people. She hadn't even bothered to learn their names before.

Claire glanced over at Will, who kept his hands hidden behind his back. He looked up and slowly nodded at her, as if to say 'Everything's okay,' even though she knew it wasn't. The taller one firmly held a knife in his hand, the same one he'd threatened Will with that morning, and she had a good feeling the other had a weapon hidden somewhere too. She hated to leave Will alone with them, but she had no other choice. It was his only chance of escaping.

"You've been relieved of your duties, _miss_," the taller one taunted her. "You're needed elsewhere. Guard duty, south doors."

"I know," she said. "Unlike you, I don't need to hear things repeated to me twelve times before I understand them."

He lunged forward, but the shorter boy held him back. "Stop it, both of you," he said. "Claire, I know Caleb's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed-"

"Shut it, Noah," the taller one - Caleb - growled.

"But there's no need to be rude about it," Noah finished, ignoring him. "All of us need to do what we're told, because you don't want Octavian to come back here and see that you're disobeying him again. He won't be so lenient about it next time."

Not only was she about to disobey Octavian, but she was about to completely betray him and all of Camp Jupiter by attempting to set their highest priority prisoner free.

No doubt she'd face much worse than Octavian's regular punishments if she was caught. But she played along, gulping loudly for effect, and began walking out of the room. As she reached the door, she turned around one last time. "Do your jobs right and I'll do mine. You've been ordered not to kill him."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of him, promise," Caleb said, tauntingly waving his knife in Will's face. Will stayed stoic and unblinking.

With that, she turned and exited, shutting the door behind her. She tried to shake off the fear, both for her own life and for Will's. Being afraid wasn't going to help anyone.

She glanced down the long corridors to either side of her. The halls were mostly deserted, save for two campers on the far right coming in through the west doors. They were more than likely changing shifts like Claire was. Being hidden inside a huge abandoned mansion, Octavian had assigned guards at every possible entrance as a precaution. He could be warned of anyone entering through any of the six different doorways.

As she walked down the hallway, she internally laughed at Octavian's arrogance. Even when he was illegally holding teenagers hostage and running a dictatorship-like rule over a group of underage demigods, he still managed to be picky about his living quarters. He'd scoped out the mansion months ago and eventually made it into his own personal castle. From the outside, it looked completely vacant, but inside it was almost as if no time had passed since it was originally built. The floors were covered in plush carpet and there was even an air conditioning system installed, though she had no idea how he managed to get away with that. Even the room Will was being held in used to be a private chapel. The pews had been removed, leaving the floors bare, but during the day the sun shone through the elaborate stained glass windows. It wasn't exactly a prison cell.

Claire walked down the stairs and across the building, finally reaching the south doors. A tired-looking boy stood slumped against the wall, falling asleep. Claire cleared her throat loudly, catching his attention. He panicked and snapped into a salute before realizing it was just her, then he relaxed and rolled his eyes.

"You've been relieved of your duties," Claire told him.

"I wasn't asleep," he said stupidly.

"Uh-huh. And next time you're 'not asleep' the person who catches you won't be so nice about it. But you owe me."

He nodded and left, making a left at the end of the hall and disappearing out of sight. Claire was alone, and would be for at least three hours. The sun was setting, shrouding the entire estate in darkness. It was perfect.

She double-checked that her dagger was still strapped to her hip, then she opened the door, closing it silently behind her as she set out into the night with a clear goal in mind: to find Will's companions and return him to them.

* * *

><p>Nico was slowly but surely losing what small amount of patience he had left. His feet hurt from pedaling for hours. They'd searched all over the city at every temple and church and building that had any remote chance of being Octavian's hiding place. At three locations, Reyna had actually gotten so distracted by the urge to go an explore the ancient buildings Nico was tempted to leave her behind and continue the mission on his own. He was hot and tired and hungry and, worst of all, they were no closer to finding Will than they'd been that morning. He didn't think the day could be going worse, but after he crashed into a horse on his bike, he was proven wrong.<p>

He'd noticed the girl on horseback a fraction of a second before the collision happened and slammed on the brakes trying to stop himself, but he was too late. He was thrown from the bike and landed hard on the ground.

"Sorry about that-" he began, but when his eyes focused, he noticed that it wasn't any horse. It was Scipio, with a stranger riding on his back. Nico unsheathed his sword and jabbed it in the girl's direction, but she pulled of Scipio's reins and he backed out of the way.

"I know this looks bad," the girl said, "but I can explain."

"Nico stop," Reyna pedaled up next to him and dismounted her bike. She glanced up at the stranger, taking her in. A hint of recognition showed through the confusion on her face.

"Praetor Reyna," the girl bowed her head. "I don't know if you remember me, but-"

"Claire Hathaway," Reyna nodded to her. "Pleasure to see you alive."

Claire smiled. "You as well. Now, if you'd let me explain myself, I'd be extremely grateful."

"I'd be glad to hear it," Reyna said.

Claire dismounted Scipio and handed the reins to Reyna. Nico looked back and forth between the girls. "Wait, what's going on here? She stole your pegasus and now you're just going to have casual conversation with her?"

"Scipio here is a real fighter," Claire ignored him. "I saw him out in the middle of Plaza Mayor harassing tourists and was confused before I recognized him as yours and thought I'd find you nearby. Thinking back on it, I probably should have realized that was too easy. He recognized the Camp robes and nearly ran me over before I managed to calm him down. I had to use the Mist to disorient him a bit, but he'll be fine, promise."

"You were one of the most talented campers in the third cohort," Reyna remembered. "Your Mist-manipulating strategies during war games helped your cohort beat first _twice _in one month, which is pretty much unheard of-"

"She's from Camp Jupiter?" Nico asked. "And you're trusting her _why_?"

"The only people who still call me Praetor are people who have strayed from Octavian's rule," Reyna said. "He made them swear allegiance to him. Plus, I remember Claire. You were the one that stole all of his stuffed animals and tied them to the flagpoles that one time, weren't you? That was hilarious! I don't think I've ever seen his face so red."

"Oh, that was nothing," Claire said, her face flushing at the compliment.

Nico groaned and rubbed at his temple. "You know, I'd love to keep reminiscing on your old Camp Jupiter days, but we have a bigger problem here."

"Right," Claire said, finally acknowledging Nico. "Your friend, Will Solace-"

Nico's eyes widened. "You know where he is?"

Claire nodded. "And I know how to get him out. It won't be easy though. He's kind of locked up in a room on the highest floor of a heavily guarded secluded building."

"Ironic," Reyna muttered.

"We can handle it," Nico said. "We've made it through worse."

"You do realize you're now the top two people on Octavian's hit list and if we get caught we're all dead, right?" Claire pointed out.

"We have to try at least."

"Nico's right," Reyna said. "It's our fault Octavian even had a chance to find him. It's only right that we get him back. Plus, Nico would hate it if we-"

"Let's just go," Nico glared at her. "Before it's too late."

Reyna handed Scipio's reins back to Claire and hopped back onto her bike. "Lead the way, miss Hathaway."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the three demigods approached the mansion's south doors. The huge building hauntingly loomed over them in the darkness.<p>

"So," Nico whispered, "Will is somewhere inside there."

"Yep." Claire said.

"Among at least 50, if not more, armed and powerful demigods."

"Yep."

"And a homicidal tyrant who's been after my blood for three years."

"Uh-huh."

"Alright. This should be fun," he gulped.

Luckily, no one had noticed Claire's absence in the short time she'd been gone. The south doors still stood unlocked and unguarded. Claire approached the door and turned the handle. It swung silently into a completely dark hallway.

She gestured for Nico and Reyna to follow close behind, then walked inside. She pulled out her dagger and the celestial bronze glowed slightly, illuminating the way.

"There's three staircases we have to take to the top floor," she whispered. "When I left it was pretty abandoned and shift changes usually happen every two hours so we should be fine until-" Claire tripped over something and swore loudly as she hit the ground. "What the... oh."

The same boy who she'd caught asleep on the job earlier now stared wide-eyed at her. The dots seemed to connect slowly in his head as he took in the sight of Reyna and Nico.

"They're... and you're..." he stammered.

"You owe me," Claire blurted out. "Not a word of this to anyone, got it?"

He glanced down at the dagger in her hand and nodded quickly. "Got it."

Reyna watched the boy's back as he fled the scene, nervously glancing behind him, probably afraid that Claire would put her dagger to good use at any second. "So much for the place being deserted."

"He was the least of our worries," Claire groaned. "We'll have worse company waiting for us upstairs. Come on."

Reyna and Nico shared a concerned glance, but followed Claire upstairs silently. They scaled the three staircases to the top floor and walked down a seemingly endless hallway before Claire stopped abruptly.

"He's in there," she said, pointing to a set a double-doors about ten feet down the hall. "But I have to warn you, there are two guys in there that aren't exactly the friendliest people. One's a sarcastic asshole and the other is a knife-happy masochist."

"Should be fun, then," Nico said sarcastically. "So what's the plan? We can't just charge in there, grab Will and go. We need some kind of strategy. I say, if there's two guys, two of us take on whoever's tougher. We knock them out, get Will and make a run for it before anyone notices what's wrong."

"You forgot the part where you're all publicly executed for treason."

They all froze. A bead of sweat trickled down Claire's back. Reyna's hand flew to her side and she tightly gripped the handle of her Imperial gold gladius.

Nico, however, completely ignored his weapons and charged at Octavian, grabbing the taller boy by the neck and slamming him against the doors before anyone could register what was happening. The doors flew open and Octavian fell to his back with Nico on top of him.

Will sat in the corner of the room, Caleb taunting him with a knife at his throat. "Nico!" he yelped.

Caleb and Noah jumped away from Will. Caleb brandished his knife in front of him while Noah stepped back, trying to avoid an unfair fight considering he didn't have a weapon.

"Guess we're abandoning that whole 'plan' thing," Reyna rolled her eyes, then charged into the fight side-by-side with Claire. It should have been an easy fight, two small girls against one tough guy, but Claire and Reyna gave him a run for his money.

Meanwhile, Nico and Octavian were grappling with one another, and despite his height and weight disadvantage, Nico seemed to actually be winning. He managed to push Octavian against the wall, one hand restraining his wrists and the other holding his sword to Octavian's neck.

"How did you know where we were, you little rat?" Nico growled. "How did you find him?"

"Oh," Claire said, still sparring with Caleb, "that was kind of my fault. I kind of saw you and ratted you out. Didn't know you'd turn out to be the good guys."

"WHAT?"

"I made up for it though, right?"

Nico let himself get distracted for a second too long. Octavian freed his hand and grabbed something from his belt. Nico yelled out in pain. His sword fell to the ground and clattered loudly as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Octavian stood over him triumphant, clutching a knife in his hand.

"NO!" Will cried out.

Will grabbed Nico's sword and dashed at Octavian, his only thought being that he wanted to inflict as much pain as possible, but Claire beat him there. She tackled Octavian to the ground - an impressive feat considering he outweighed her by at least fifty pounds. His knife slid across the floor and Reyna snatched it up. Without missing a beat, she slashed in Caleb's direction, both weapons raised.

"Not so tough now, are you?" she taunted.

With that, Noah fled the room. Caleb, however, crept even closer. Rather than going in for the attack, Reyna tossed Octavian's sword to the side, raised her hand to her mouth, and let out a high-pitched whistle. Not a second later, Scipio crashed through the large stained glass window landed a solid kick to the boy's head. He collapsed, a large bump already showing on his forehead.

"Good boy, Scipio!" Reyna hopped on his back and patted his muzzle. She stared down Noah, who took off running.

Will had been so distracted watching Reyna he'd forgotten about the rest of the fight going on around him for a moment. He turned around to see Octavian throw Claire off of him. She crashed violently into a solid marble bust, knocking it to the ground and smashing it to pieces. She hit the ground and cried out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nico crawling away, clutching at his shoulder trying to stop the blood flow. He locked eyes with Will, then looked over at Octavian and Claire, and Will understood exactly what he meant. _Take care of them first. _

Octavian jumped to his feet and started to rush at Reyna, but Will was one step ahead of him. He noticed the way Octavian's cape dragged on the ground and suddenly idea came to him that was either really brave or really, _really_ stupid. He leaped forward and stabbed Nico's sword into the ground, spearing Octavian's cape in the process. Octavian was snatched backwards and fell on his back. Scipio galloped forward and pinned Octavian to the ground with one of his front hooves.

"Way to go, Will!" Reyna called.

"I didn't think that was even going to work, but thanks!" Will grinned. He pulled Nico's sword out of the floorboards and dashed back over to his two injured friends.

He reached Nico first and helped him to his feet. Nico accepted his support gratefully, but protested when Will offered to heal him. "I'll be fine, help her first," He gestured over to Claire again, who hadn't moved since she hit the ground. Will grudgingly left his side and sprinted over to Claire.

"Is anything broken?" he asked, kneeling next to her and helping her sit up. She groaned at his touch.

"Everything hurts," she muttered. "Literally every single inch of my body. I feel like a punching bag with nerve endings."

Will couldn't help but laugh as he gently checked her arms and legs. "Nothing seems to be broken or sprained. Maybe some internal bruising or bleeding. Can you breathe okay?"

"Will, I'll be okay," she said.

"Get off of me you disgusting creature," Octavian groaned under the weight of pegasus hoof on his chest. "I never liked you."

"Shut up, blondie," Reyna said. "Hey, guys, what do you think we should do with him?"

"How about we tie him up? Maybe slap him around a little? Give him a taste of his own medicine?" Claire said.

"Claire?" Octavian feigned sadness. "And to think, I was about to appoint you to be my right-hand lieutenant."

"Save it, Octavian," she sneered. "I can't believe I used to think I liked you."

"Whatever we do, we better do it quick before that other kid comes back with reinforcements," Nico pointed out.

Claire stood shakily and stared down at Octavian. "You all go. I'll take care of things here."

Reyna frowned. "Are you sure, Claire? I'm sure if we took two trips we could take you with us."

"I'll hunt you down," Octavian groaned. "You'll never get away from me for long. I'll-" he was cut off by a pegasus hoof to the face.

"I'm sure," Claire said. "Maybe I can try to fix things with some of the other campers. But as long as there are still so many loyal to _him_, it's not safe for any of you to be anywhere near here. You don't need me dragging you down. Get as far away as possible."

"You are incredibly brave Claire," Reyna bowed her head to her. "Thank you."

Claire blushed and gave Reyna a small curtsy. "Anything for the true Praetor of New Rome. Hopefully one day you'll be back where you belong?"

"Hopefully," Reyna smiled. "But for now, Will, Nico, we've got to get going. Hazel and Frank are probably worried sick about us. I'm sure Scipio can handle the weight of all three of us for a while, can't you boy?"

"You sure about that, Reyna?" Nico asked. "It's a long trip back. I'm sure I could just shadow jump us there."

"You can barely move your own arm more than an inch. It's not happening. Besides, you and Will are both scrawny, I'm sure Scipio won't have a problem."

Will climbed onto Scipio's back and helped Nico up, making sure to be careful of his left shoulder.

"You all be careful out there," Claire said. "I'll be rooting for you."

Reyna nodded to her, and with that, Scipio set off into the sky, soaring through the broken glass window and out of sight.

Seeing a giant flying horse with three passengers on its back zip through the sky at four in the morning wasn't the oddest thing Hazel had ever seen, but it came very close.

"What on earth happened to you?" Hazel gasped. Scipio landed roughly on the ground, kicking up dirt and leaves all around him. Will immediately hopped off with Nico in his arms. "Oh gods, is he okay?" Hazel asked. "Nico?"

"I'm fine," Nico muttered. "You can put me down now."

Will shook his head. "Not happening. You're lost so much blood from that stab wound you can barely stand up."

"Stab wound?" Frank cried. "What happened out there?"

"Octavian happened," Reyna said, dismounting from Scipio. He laid down and whinnied quietly, as if he were exhaling. Reyna knelt down next to him and ran a hand through his mane. "You did such a good job out there buddy. It's alright, you can rest now," she cooed in his ear.

Will put Nico down by the fire and sat down next to him. "Try not to move around so much," Will told him. Nico obeyed and sat still while Will looked him over. "Okay, you're going to have to take your shirt off."

"Why?" Nico hoped it didn't sound as squeaky and panicked as he thought it did. Suddenly Reyna's scrawny comment from earlier was bothering him.

"I need to be able to actually touch the wound to heal it. Plus, your shirt's almost completely soaked through anyway." Will said simply.

Nico glanced over and looked for any hint of embarrassment or nervousness on Will's face, but saw nothing. Will was completely calm, as if it were the most normal situation they could possibly be in. Which meant Nico was the one overthinking it and making himself nervous. Fantastic.

Reyna glanced over at the pair and raised an eyebrow at them, then pretended not to be oblivious. "Hey, Hazel, Frank, do you mind maybe getting some food and water for Scipio. I'd do it myself, but I think he wants me to stay here with him."

"Sure," Hazel said, taking Frank's hand. "We can get clean water and some apples from one of the shops nearby."

"But..." Frank glanced back and forth, confused, "shouldn't we maybe not leave them alone here?"

"They'll be fine," Hazel insisted. "Come on, let's _go_."

As they walked off, Reyna turned back to Nico and mouthed the words _'You're welcome_' to him. Nico didn't know whether he wanted to hug her or strangle her. Maybe he'd do both at the same time.

Will didn't even blink as Nico hesitantly tugged his ripped, blood-stained shirt over his head, careful not to move his left arm. He flinched at the cold touch of the other boys' hands on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a faint golden glow surround Will's entire body, growing brighter as he began singing.

"_Flos nitoris fulgore et lumen. Ostende Virtutem Tuam. Convertimini Tempus. Adducere reportat quod nostra fuit," _Will sang out quietly. "_Sanabant laesus. Fates tentabis. Salvabo quod amissum est. Adducere reportat quod nostra fuit_..."

"You sang it differently this time," Nico noticed.

Will nodded. "Sometimes it's stronger when I change the words. Like my dad can hear my prayer louder and he tries to help." Will carefully traced a cautious finger across the scar that was left. Nico winced slightly but tried to hide it. Will pulled away and sighed. "I'm sorry, it doesn't work as well when I'm scared or stressed. Usually changing certain words makes it stronger, I guess but it doesn't always work. It still hurts, doesn't it?"

"No," Nico lied, tugging his shirt back on.

Will pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head in his arms. "I knew this was going to happen. I knew you were going to get hurt because of me."

"You couldn't have known that," Nico told him. He got that nagging urge in the back of his head to reach out and comfort him again, which he immediately pushed away.

"Yes, I could have. It's in the prophecy. There's a line about a horrible loss and it's all coming true now because I didn't just stay at home like I should have."

"The prophecy you told me about being the Child of the Sun? You never told me about that part. You only said something about _'the Child of the Sun to be freed at last_'. That sounds like the final line of the prophecy, and that already came true when me and Reyna took you away from Gaea."

"That _is_ the last line. But the prophecy can't have come true yet, because the line before that is '_A selfless act shall correct the past.' _Maybe you and Reyna and your friends protecting me is the selfless act, but the past hasn't been corrected. Gaea is still after us; the Romans and Greeks are still at war. Nothing has changed."

Nico didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted to pry for information, to get Will to talk more about it, but he knew that'd only cause Will to get more upset. He was already near tears, sitting curled up in the fetal position with his face hidden buried in his arms. So small and vulnerable.

"I guess we'll have to be leaving soon," Will changed the subject. "We wasted this whole day, so we have to get back on schedule, right?"

"We'll probably leave once Hazel and Frank get back," Nico said. "The sooner we get to Camp Half-Blood with the statue the better."

_Good_, Will thought. _The sooner I stop being a burden to them, the better._


	8. Salvabo Quod Amissum Est

Not too long after their conversation, Hazel and Frank returned. Will hung back in silence as Nico and Reyna said their goodbyes. They were all exhausted and no one really wanted to leave so soon, but they were already a day off schedule - which Will blamed himself for, if they didn't have to rescue him they would have been far away from Madrid by now - and they couldn't afford to waste any more time. He realized it had been nearly twenty-four hours since he last slept. The sun would be rising

within the hour, which meant that they had to leave as soon as possible before Nico's shadow travel was rendered useless in the daylight and they were stuck for another day.

"Where are you headed to next?" Hazel asked.

"Preferably as close as we can possibly get to the ocean," Reyna said, casting a sad glance at her pegasus. She had hesitantly decided to leave Scipio with Hazel rather than trust him to fly himself back home. Camp Jupiter was still out there and she didn't want to run the risk of him getting shot down with no one to save him. "After that, we'll just have to take it one day at a time. Hopefully we'll make it to New York before the summer solstice." She walked over to Will and asked, "Are you ready to go?"

As ready as he'd ever be, he nodded. It was already June 19th, which meant Reyna and Nico were planning to cross the span of the entire Atlantic Ocean in two days. It seemed nearly impossible, considering how slowly they'd been traveling thus far, but Will decided not to question it. They hadn't been too horribly wrong with their planning yet. He trusted them to make it on time, preferably before anything worse could happen. The prophecy was set to come to pass the same day they arrived.

Hopefully, if everything went according to plan, he'd be able to distance himself as far away as possible from Nico and Reyna so he could avoid causing them any more trouble and loss than necessary.

Hazel buried her head in Nico's chest and squeezed him tight. "Iris message me as soon as you're safe at Camp. That's not a request, that's an order, got it?"

"Love you, too, Hazel," he hugged her back, still being careful not to jostle his left shoulder too much.

Then he joined Reyna and Will at the base of the statue and linked hands with both of them.

"Hey, Frank," Nico turned and called back, "take care of my little sister, alright?"

"She doesn't need me to look after her," Frank smiled.

"Oh, I know," said Nico, "I'm just making sure you remember not to mistreat her or else you'll have to suffer the consequences."

Frank's face paled.

"I'm joking," Nico deadpanned.

"Right. Of course," Frank exhaled. "Good luck out there, you guys."

Hazel made direct eye contact with Will and gave him a small, sad smile. He didn't even have time to return the gesture before the world around him went dark and Hazel and Frank were gone.

* * *

><p>Will still couldn't get the hang of landing after shadow travel. The darkness and the air blowing a hundred miles per hour directly into his face combined with the odd falling sensation and dizziness didn't exactly make landing flat on his feet the easiest task to accomplish. At least this time around, Reyna and Nico both fell to the ground as well, which made him feel a little better about himself.<p>

The amazing view they had made him feel better too. They were laid out on a deserted beach somewhere on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The moonlight reflected off the seawater and cast faint shadows across the sand. A hint of reddish-yellow light peeked over the horizon, the first hint of sunrise. They'd jumped time zones, Will realized.

He sat up and shook the sand out of his hair. "What is this place?" he sighed. "It's beautiful."

"Welcome to Lisbon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to nap for the next century," Nico muttered, then promptly fell asleep right where he laid.

Reyna groaned. "We traveled more than three hundred and eighty miles. I told him not to push himself so hard." She walked over to where he laid and sat on the ground next to him, gently placing his head in her lap. "Nico," she called out quietly. "You've got to stay up."

Nico groaned and turned to face away from her.

"Come on, wake up," Reyna said, a bit louder this time. "You can't start fading away on me again."

Fading away? Will looked to Reyna for an explanation, but she didn't give him one. Nico grudgingly sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

"I'll be fine, Reyna," he insisted.

"You already look paler than usual, and I didn't even think that was possible," Reyna chastised him. As Will took a closer look, he realized what she was talking about. Reyna took hold of Nico's hand, but his skin looked almost translucent. Any other time, Will may have thought it was a trick of the light, but it was clear that Nico was actually disappearing into thin air.

Will must have looked terrified, because Nico got caught one look at his face and immediately brightened up. "Hey, it's just a side effect of too much shadow travel," Nico explained, "after I get some rest it'll wear off and I'll be as good as new. No need to panic, okay?"

Will didn't believe him for one second. "How are we supposed to make it to New York? You can't possibly make it that far without fading away completely."

"Well," Reyna said, "we could always call in favor with another friend of ours. I'm sure Per-"

"No," Nico interrupted her. "It's not happening."

"Well do you have any better ideas?" Reyna asked. "Think about it Nico, he's our only sure chance of making it there on time."

"I don't need his help. And we're not _that_ desperate."

"Maybe not yet. But what if we get attacked again? Or if you can't muster up enough energy to make the jump and we end up stranded on some deserted island in the middle of nowhere?"

"I'm sure if it came down to that, you could lend me some strength."

"And when I can't sustain you anymore, then what?"

They glared at each other. Will felt like he might get whiplash if he watched their argument any longer.

"If it comes to that," Nico said slowly, "then maybe I'll consider it. But I make no promises."

Will rubbed at his temple. "Alright, I'm confused, who exactly are we talking about here?"

"An old friend of ours, Percy Jackson-" Reyna began.

"-who we don't need to ask for help," Nico finished. "This isn't up for discussion right now."

The name had come up twice before since Will had started traveling with them, and always, Nico had had the same reaction: hostility and anger. Reyna called Percy an old friend, but if Will had to guess, he'd think Nico wasn't friends with him at all.

Reyna and Nico avoided the topic for the rest of the day. The three of them were stuck on the beach with nowhere to go since Nico had to spend majority of the day resting. At one point, Reyna had ventured off alone to see if there were any towns nearby with no luck. They truly were stuck until they could figure out a way to get to New York. And with Nico's stubbornness towards asking for help, Will figured they'd be stuck there for a long time.

* * *

><p>The day passed uneventfully. Nico slept for fifteen straight hours, only waking up once when Reyna forced him to drink some nectar and eat something. Reyna, on the other hand, had spent the whole day wide-awake and on alert. She paced up and down the beach, dagger in hand, staring at the skies and all around them, not daring to let her guard down for even a moment. At one point he'd fallen asleep and woken up a few hours later to the sun setting behind him and Reyna still pacing back and forth in the same spot.<p>

"Sorry," she'd said once she noticed Will staring at her. "I'm just a little paranoid. Worried that they might find us again."

Will nodded understandably. "We'll be safe here. They couldn't track us down this far away so quickly."

"I guess you're right," Reyna said. "I can't help but be scared for Claire, though. I'm sure Frank and Hazel fled as soon as they could, but Claire may not have been lucky enough to get away. Octavian could be doing anything to her right now."

"She's a strong fighter," Will said. "And she isn't going to let Octavian walk all over her without putting up a fight."

Reyna frowned, staring down at her feet. "I should have gotten rid of him when I had the chance. All he'll ever do is hurt more people."

Will didn't really think Reyna was that type of person. Yes, she cared deeply about those close to her, but not enough where she'd actively seek out revenge against someone. She did what was right and protected those she loved at any cost, but she didn't seem like the type to enjoy confrontation.

She continued pacing for another hour until Nico finally woke up. He still looked exhausted and Will guess he could have probably slept for another fifteen hours with no problem. Instead, he forced himself to stay awake and occupied his time by gathering wood nearby and setting a small fire.

He reached into Reyna's bag and pulled out a pillow and blanket and set them out next to the fire. Then he crept up silently behind her and caught her off guard, snatching her dagger from her hands and holding it high above his head where he couldn't reach.

"Hey!" She cried out in protest. "What are you doing? Give it back."

"Go to sleep," he told her. "I'll give it back to you in the morning."

"I'm not tired," Reyna said, jumping to try to reach it. "I can keep watch for a few more hours."

"You've been awake for almost two days," Nico countered.

Realization dawned on her face. She'd been so preoccupied worrying about her friends she hadn't even realized how much time had passed. "Fine," she muttered. "I'll sleep. But I want my dagger back."

He handed it to her, then gently guided her by the shoulders over towards the fire. Exhaustion fell over her the moment her head hit the pillow and she was asleep almost as soon as she laid down. Nico shook his head and smiled.

"She worries about me too much," he said. "I admire her selflessness, but she's going to end up hurting herself one of these days."

He walked over and sat in the sand next to Will and they fell into comfortable silence. Still, the nagging voice in the back of Will's mind wanted to ask so many questions.

He decided to start the conversation on a lighter note. "You know, you can go back to sleep if you want. I can keep watch for a while."

"Maybe I will in a little while," Nico said. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own for the night?"

"I can't make any promises, but it doesn't seem like there are any murderous Romans out for my blood on this beach tonight, so I think I'll be alright."

They lapsed into silence again, the only noises around them being the light lapping of the waves on the shore and the crackling of the fire. It may have been peaceful were it not for the constant worry looming over them. By morning they'd probably be off the on the next leg of their journey, and from that moment on there'd be no stopping until they reached their final destination. Will figured it was as good a time as any. If he didn't ask now he may never know.

"So he keeps coming up in conversation, and you still won't explain, but I have to ask. What exactly do you have against Percy Jackson?" Will asked hesitantly.

Nico gave his usual answer. "Nothing. He's nobody."

Will slowly inched closer, "You know, it might help to talk about it."

Nico glanced down and noticed the change in distance between them, but decided not to comment on it. "I met him when I was ten years old," he began. "He saved me and my sister Bianca from a manticore and from that day on I idolized him, like he was some kind of hero worth worshipping or something. Even after he let my sister get killed on a quest. I hated myself for loving him." He sighed and shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

"So you've held this grudge for six years because he let your sister die, and because you loved him?"

"Those are the main reasons, yes."

"You mean love like-"

"Yes, I mean I was _in love _with him. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"No, no, not at all!" Will hadn't realized he had been holding his breath until he exhaled loudly. "It's just that I don't know much about love. Except for the love from my friends I've met, obviously. Not much about falling for someone and living happily ever after. I don't know how all of that really works. I was beginning to think something was wrong with me because in all of the stories I've read they never once mentioneda prince falling in love with a man_."_

Nico stared at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. After a long pause, he asked, "I thought you'd given up on that whole storybook obsession?"

Will thought back to his previously treasured copy of Sleeping Beauty that he'd left torn to shreds on the floor of Piper's guest room. It was the one souvenir he'd brought from home and it used to have so much sentimental value, but now it didn't matter to him at all.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "That's all I've ever known. When I was young all I would do is read. Especially when I would get depressed about my life or when I felt like something was missing. Gaea would leave me alone for days at a time and I had no one." He hadn't even realized the harsh truth behind that statement until he said it out loud. "I was lonely, so I surrounded myself with stories and fairy tales. This is my first taste of real life and it's not exactly what I was expecting."

"You don't need those made up stories, you have us now," Nico said simply. "I'm sorry the real world isn't as great as you thought it would be. But you didn't really think your life would be like a fairytale, right?" Nico nudged him playfully. "I mean, you didn't honestly think you'd meet royalty and immediately fall in love and get married the next day, would you?"

He hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. "That's not what I meant and you know it," Will grumbled.

Nico actually laughed, a sound Will thought he'd never hear. It sounded beautiful. He hoped he wasn't blushing even harder after thinking that. "No need to feel embarrassed. You know, it might help to talk about it," Nico echoed.

"I'm not sure." Will's voice caught in his throat. He wasn't sure of a lot of things. He wasn't sure if he really knew what he was feeling. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it. He definitely wasn't sure why he was so nervous talking to Nico about it.

"It's not the easiest thing to talk about, especially when you're not ready," Nico said quietly. "Trust me, I know."

Will locked eyes Nico. The glow of the fire illuminated his usually dark irises. Something felt different about him now. He seemed more open, more trustworthy. More friendly.

They held eye contact for just a second too long.

"So, enough about my horrible childhood, what about you?" Nico looked away and coughed into his fist. "Are you ever going to tell me the full prophecy or are you just going to keep it some huge mystery forever?"

"_Of gold from the Gods shall a hero rise. A unique gift, an immeasurable prize. When turned eighteen will see the light. A loss most wrong to set things right. A selfless act shall correct the past, the child of the sun to be freed at last_," Will recited. "You've already heard most of it."

Nico nodded. "Only one of the middle lines is new. _When turned eighteen will see the light. _That sounds good, right?"

"Maybe. I used to think I had it figured out but none of it makes any sense anymore." Will frowned.

"The greatest prophecies never do."

"But _a loss most wrong_ is what I'm afraid of. In two days when I turn eighteen, something bad is going to happen. Enough horrible things have happened already, so that just means that this loss is going to be even worse than what we've already faced."

"That's not necessarily true," Nico said. "You can never be sure what a prophecy means until it comes to pass."

"But it can't possibly mean anything good," Will buried his head in his arms as the guilt came rushing in again. "I can't change what the Fates have designed, Nico. Someone is going to get seriously hurt because of me, and it'll most likely be you or Reyna or Piper or one of my other new friends, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Fate works in mysterious ways, Will. Don't worry about it right now. It'll be okay, I promise," Nico gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before standing and walking towards where Reyna slept. "Get some rest tonight, okay? We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Will said, though he whispered it so quietly he doubted Nico heard him.

Nico laid out next to Reyna and in the next few minutes, his breathing slowed as he fell deep into slumber. The forest became quiet once more and Will began to remember how much he hated the silence.

"_Well, well, well_," a voice hissed from behind him, "Wasn't that touching?"

Will whirled around and came face to face with Gaea and stifled a scream.

Only it wasn't really her. She seemed almost transparent in the moonlight, as if it were just an apparition. He hoped for a moment that it was a ghost, but he could feel the temperature drop as she seemed to pull the warmth and energy out of everything surrounding her. No ghost or hallucination could cause that.

She smiled cruelly. "Who would have thought my precious grandson would run off with two fugitive demigods? And to think, I thought he trusted me. I thought he loved me."

"You're a liar," said Will. He tried his hardest to act brave. _She isn't here. This isn't real. She's manipulating you_. Still, he trembled in fear, his hands shaking uncontrollably at his sides. "I'm not your grandson. And any time I trusted you I regret it."

"But I took care of you all these years," Gaea's figure floated towards him, "I fed you and bought you gifts and sheltered you. Why would I do that without reason?"

Will backed away as quickly as he could. "You used me and you lied to me. About everything. I'm not related to you or Helios or the Titans at all. I'm Apollo's lost son."

"Yes, you insolent little brat, you are," Gaea huffed. The earth swirled at her feet as she hovered closer to him. Will felt as if he was suddenly standing in quicksand. His feet stuck to the ground and he was trapped in place, forced to watch Gaea hover in circles around him and taunt him. Her voice felt like needles pricking at his brain. "I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out. You're the child of that obnoxious Olympian and some mortal woman. Your daddy dearest loved Adalynn Solace so much he blessed you with your exceptional healing as a gift to her. But don't worry about her now, I took care of her a long time ago."

_Adalynn_. He'd never even heard his mother's name before. "What did you do to her?"

"I disposed of her as necessary, the same way I did with Esperanza Valdez and Marie Levesque, though her cursed little daughter managed to slip her way back out of the Underworld," she hissed. "But that doesn't matter now. Zeus took care of your father for me and punished him for abusing his power, which gave me the perfect opportunity to take you for myself with few casualties. But I won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get you back. Which is why, if you surrender, I won't hurt your little friends."

Will's took a shaky breath and forced his words out. "You killed my mother and kidnapped me. You ruined my friends' lives. And now you expect me to trust that you won't hurt Nico and Reyna?"

"No, I don't expect you to trust me," she grinned evilly, "but you know that if you decide to go against me you will all face catastrophic consequences. Choose wisely, Will."

"I'll never go with you ever again. You're evil! You're a monster!"

She cackled loudly. "Very well," her form began sinking to the ground as her words faded out. "You have forty eight hours. Lets wait and see what the prophecy will decide for you. After that, I'll take care of whatever is left myself. Happy birthday, Will."

Her last sentence echoed into the trees as she disappeared, leaving behind no trace of her appearance. Will's entire body shook uncontrollably, Gaea's speech replaying over and over in his mind, meanwhile Reyna and Nico slept close to the fire, peaceful and unsuspecting.

Forty eight hours. Only two more days of peace before he faced this terrible loss.

This was shaping up to be the worst birthday ever.


	9. Quid Iterum Sibi Mea Erat

Good news was that Will wasn't afraid of falling asleep during his watch. Bad news was he couldn't sleep at all after his encounter with Gaea, even if he tried.

Nico and Reyna had slept soundly through the whole thing, which made him think Gaea must have been talking to him in his head, the way she nearly hypnotized him at the zoo. The apparition of her couldn't have really been her, either. They would have felt the temperature drop or heard her footsteps. She wasn't really there. But she knew where they were, which only made Will more paranoid that she'd decide to change her mind and attack them at any moment.

He was putting them in danger. Part of him wanted to sneak off into the night and run as far away as he possibly could before they had a chance to stop him. But he wasn't naive. He knew he wouldn't survive out in the world alone for even a day.

Besides, he'd miss Reyna and Nico too much to stay gone for long.

Nico woke up first, immediately checking his surroundings to make sure Will and Reyna hadn't vanished in the middle of the night. He took one look at Will and his eyes widened.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, tugging his hands through his disheveled bed head. "You look like you've seen a ghost. And not the friendly kind."

Will realized he was still curled into the fetal position on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest. His fear and paranoia probably showed in his eyes. He quickly regained his composure and gave Nico a small smile.

"I'm fine," He said. "Just... lost in thought," He paused. "There are friendly ghosts?"

"If you know where to find them," Nico said. "Wandering spirits make great friends sometimes."

"Oh here he goes again," Reyna muttered, still half-asleep. "Are you going to reminisce about the good old days when you'd spend all your free time in the Underworld chatting it up with Persephone and playing fetch with Cerberus?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "No, I wasn't going to do that, Reyna. I thought you were asleep."

"I was," she said, sitting up and stretching out like a cat, "barely. Besides, we don't have time to waste sleeping; we've got a big day ahead of us. I say we Iris message Percy as soon as the sun's up high enough to make a rainbow. The sooner we talk to him the better."

Nico made a face at her. "Do we have to?"

"Yes," she snapped. "Face it, Nico, as much as you hate to do this, we have no other choice."

Nico groaned. "Fine, let's just get this over with." He stood and started making his way down the beach. "I'm going to go get some more fire wood."

Will tried to hide the smile on his face as he watched Nico walk away. It brought him an odd sense of joy to see Nico so unenthusiastic about this whole situation.

Reyna cleared her throat, catching Will's attention. He looked over to see her grinning at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You were staring," she said.

Will tilted his head. "I was?"

"Yes," Reyna laughed and shook her head. "You two are both so blind it's ridiculous."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Reyna sighed and laid back with her hands behind her head. "Nothing. You two will figure it out eventually."

Will didn't get a chance to ask her to elaborate, because Nico returned a second later with his arms full of logs. He knelt down and added them to the pile, wincing slightly at the tug on his left shoulder.

"It's still bothering you," Will said. It wasn't a question. Apollo had blessed him with exceptional power and he couldn't even fix a measly shoulder wound because he was too nervous around Nico to make the hymn powerful enough.

"Don't worry about it," Nico said, as if he could tell exactly what Will was thinking. "You tried your best. That's all that matters. Once we get to camp I can have someone in the infirmary take a better look at it."

Reyna helped him spark a small fire and the three demigods huddled around it, grateful for the heat. Even though it was summer, without the sun shining, the early morning brought brisk temperatures. They ate a makeshift breakfast of granola bars and leftover fruit from the basket Piper had given him.

At the break of dawn, Nico and Reyna set off to work creating the connection for their message. Reyna pulled a compact mirror from her bag and walked down to the shore of the beach, submerging it in a shallow pool of water. After a few minutes of adjusting the position so it was angled perfectly at the light and waiting for the sun to rise higher into the sky, a small rainbow reflected off the surface of the water.

"It's... smaller than I expected," Will said.

"But it'll work," Reyna said, taking a drachma from her bag and handing it to Nico. "I'll let you do the honors."

Nico reluctantly took the gold coin from her hand with a sigh. "Oh Iris, goddess of messengers, accept my offering," he murmured. He tossed the drachma and it disappeared into thin air. The rainbow shimmered in front of them and, a moment later, a messy head of curly blonde hair appeared in front of them.

"Huh?" Reyna tilted her head. "Annabeth?"

The blonde girl had been asleep in a dark room. She turned around on her bed and it took her a moment to realize where the noise was coming from, but when she recognized her old friends, she grinned widely.

"Reyna! Nico!" she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you guys again. But you do realize it's about two in the morning here, right?"

Reyna waved and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Listen, Annabeth," Nico said. "We need to talk to Percy. I thought I called for him, but-"

"Oh, he's here. Percy!" she called out. A few seconds later a young man, about nineteen, came into view. He peeked his head out from behind Annabeth's shoulders and squinted through the dark, muttering something about Annabeth interrupting his dream.

So this was Percy Jackson. Will glanced over at Nico, whose eyes had widened and cheeks were flushed bright red. It took him a second to realize why: Percy and Annabeth had been asleep together. In the same bed. _Oh_.

Both of them were still fully clothed, of course, and they didn't seem the least bit embarrassed to be seen like this, so it shouldn't have bothered Will much. But he could still feel the heat rising to his cheeks. No doubt his face was as red as Nico's. Reyna, one the other hand, looked completely unaffected. As if she were used to things like this.

"Well this is a nice surprise," Percy laughed. "I thought you two might have disappeared off the face of the earth. It's good to see you two again." He glanced at Will and his smile wavered slightly. "Who's this?"

"A friend of ours," Nico said quickly, not bothering with the full introduction, which Will was grateful for. He got tired of the shocked and awed expressions when people realized who he was. He didn't exactly think his tragic childhood deserved praise and admiration. "We had something we needed to ask you. I - we need your help with something."

"Name it and it's done," Percy said immediately.

Reyna and Nico exchanged a concerned glance. "Well," Reyna said, "it's kind of a ridiculous request..."

"Are we talking pink poodles ridiculous or murderous grains ridiculous?"

Reyna blinked twice. "What?"

"Nothing, never mind," Percy shook his head. "What are we dealing with here?"

"You know the Athena Parthenos, the giant ancient statue that caused the whole Greek and Roman rivalry?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, the name rings a bell," Percy said sarcastically.

Annabeth turned and whacked him on the shoulder. "What about it, Nico?"

"We have it right here on the beach," he replied casually, leaning out of the way and gesturing back with his thumb, revealing the view of the statue to them. "And we need to get it across the Atlantic Ocean. Preferably by tomorrow. And we need your help."

Percy and Annabeth stared blankly.

"I know it's an outrageous request," Reyna said. "but you understand how important this is, right?"

Percy paused to think for a moment. "Of course we understand how important this is. It could change everything. But I can't guarantee anything. The Gods are still in limbo. If it's Neptune we're dealing with, this may not be so easy. But if Poseidon is on my side, it just might work."

"So what you're saying is you'll do it?" said Reyna.

"Of course," Percy said. "I'd do anything for you guys." The connection started to flicker out and the image of Percy and Annabeth started fading. "I'll be on my way first thing in the morning. Where are you?"

"Lisbon," Nico said quickly. "We're on a long beach in the west. I don't know the exact coordinates but maybe I can-"

"Don't worry about it," Percy cut him off, the connection becoming more unstable every second. "I'll find my way there. See you in a few hours."

"Thank you," Nico said. Not a second later, the image of Percy and Annabeth disappeared and the three of them were left staring out into the ocean. Nico groaned and flopped back onto the sand. "Well that could have been worse," he muttered.

"Stop being so melodramatic," Reyna rolled her eyes. She stood, walked over to the Athena Parthenos and leaned against it casually. "You're lucky we have weird friends like Percy and Annabeth who will hear things like 'Yeah, we stole a statue and need you to travel more than three thousand miles in a day to come pick it up for us' and they agree without hesitation. I mean, who else could say they have people who'd do that for them?"

Nico groaned again. "Don't remind me. I talk to him for the first time in three years and this is what I ask for." He kicked his feet in the sand and hid his face in his hands out of frustration.

"Where exactly did you steal this from?" Will asked, dragging his hand across the base of the statue. "I remember you mentioning guards looking for you when we first met, but where exactly were these people guarding it?"

"A high-security, world renowned museum in Rome," Reyna said. "It was a piece of cake compared to some of the other things we've done. It was originally hidden underground, but long story short, word got out about its possible location and it was retrieved and put on display. The legend behind the statue dates back centuries, it's popular among even mortals, so they jumped on their chance to have a legendary symbol of Greek and Roman history in their museums."

"Which of course means we stole it back within a week," said Nico. He sat up and folded his arms across his chest. "Retrieving the Athena Parthenos was originally a solo quest granted to Annabeth by her mother -"

"I'm going to take a wild guess and assume she's Athena's daughter," Will said.

Nico nodded. "She barely got started on her way before the incident where they were driven away from Camp Jupiter. It wasn't really Leo's fault that he fired on Camp and essentially started a civil war, of course, but in all the chaos and violence, we were all driven even further apart and the seven of the prophecy were never able to finish their quest. The second Great Prophecy never came to pass."

"Second Great Prophecy?" Will asked. "What was the first?"

"The first centered happened when the Titans Kronos and Krios tried to overthrow Olympus a few years ago," Nico explained. "The second is: _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, to storm or fire the world must fall, an oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the doors of death. _Foes being Greeks and Romans of course.

"You've already met five out of the seven mentioned in the prophecy," Reyna said. "Piper, Hazel and Frank, and of course, Percy and Annabeth. The other two are Leo Valdez and Jason Grace."

Will immediately recognized Valdez as the last name of one of the women Gaea had mentioned the night before, one of the women she'd killed along with Marie Levesque and Adalynn Solace. No doubt she was Leo's mother.

"They were on their way to Rome to retrieve the statue and close the doors of death in hopes to reunite the two sides so they could fight together to destroy Gaea. Needless to say, that last part didn't really work out..." Nico awkwardly let his sentence fade off.

Will decided not to comment. Of course, it hadn't been the other demigods' faults that his life had turned out the way it did. Gaea had controlled and destroyed all of their lives since they were young. They couldn't have prevented his fate any more than he could. Instead he decided to ask, "What are the doors of death?"

"Thantos' personal gateway into the Underworld," said Nico. "Gaea took control of them and left them open in Tartarus. At one point I was planning to venture down there myself to see if I could find them, but I never got a chance to."

"That's why the war is so difficult right now; souls can freely return from the dead," Reyna added. "Technically, Percy and the others could continue their quest where they left off and they could still succeed. Annabeth failed following the Mark of Athena, but with us returning the statue, it might help put them back on track."

"So that's why you're doing this?" Will turned to Nico. "To help _Percy_?" He sounded more hostile than he intended. He saw the way Nico looked seeing Percy and Annabeth together; he knew there was still something there, however small that something may be. He tried not to show it, and he hated to admit it, but he was slightly jealous. "And your other friends?" He quickly added.

"That's part of the reason," Nico said carefully. "That, and the fact that I want this war to be over. I want there to be peace between both sides, and I want to be accepted again..." he became very quiet. "And I don't want anyone else to be hurt by Gaea's evil. I don't want her hurting anyone else ever again. I want _you_ to be safe."

Nico stared directly at Will. It was the same endearing look he'd given him at the campfire the night before. Suddenly some of that jealously melted away and was replaced with flutters in his stomach and his heart beating hard against his ribcage.

He silently scolded himself. He'd already decided the night before that his life was so fairytale, and Nico definitely was no prince charming. They had a quest to complete and an evil goddess to destroy. He couldn't let his budding feelings complicate things more. And yet he couldn't shake the fluttering feeling he got in his stomach at the idea of Nico caring about him that way. After all, he'd been in love with Percy. The idea wasn't too far fetched.

"You're doing it again," Reyna muttered.

Nico tore his eyes away from Will and looked at Reyna. "Doing what?"

"Nothing," Will lied. He wracked his brain for the first excuse he could come up with. "Sorry, I can't really focus. I'm just... tired." It wasn't a total lie. He was so distraught from Gaea's appearance the night before that he hadn't even thought he could get to sleep if he tried. But now it was well into the morning and the exhaustion was creeping up on him.

Reyna folded her arms over her chest. "Oh, really?"

"Really," Will insisted.

Nico, however, seemed to think it was a legitimate enough answer. "Get some rest," he said. "Reyna and I will wake you if anything happens."

Will nodded gratefully and walked back over to their campfire without another word. Drowsiness washed over him the moment he laid down on one of Reyna's pillows and shut his eyes, and within two minutes, he was asleep.

The nightmares came almost immediately.

_He was on a hill, hiding in the shrubbery with two unfamiliar teenagers, a boy and a girl, both dressed in bright orange tee-shirts. He guessed they were younger than him, but all three had camouflaged themselves so it was hard to tell what either one really looked like. He was younger, he could feel it. Maybe fifteen? _

_Nico was there too, albeit shorter and paler than his present self. And he and Will were arguing. _

_"We know," Will was saying. "But if you're planning to shadow-travel to that command tent, forget it." _

_Nico glared at him. "Excuse me?" _

"_Coach Hedge told me all about your shadow-travel. You can't try that again." He didn't know who Coach Hedge was. Majority of what he was saying made no sense. So much of the nightmare was unfamiliar, yet he felt an odd sense of connection with what was happening around him._

"_I just did try it again, Solace. I'm fine." _

"_No, you're not. I'm a healer. I could feel the darkness in your hand as soon as I touched it. Even if you made it to that tent, you'd be in no shape to fight. But you wouldn't make it. One more slip, and you won't come back. You are not shadow-traveling. Doctor's orders."_

_But Nico didn't listen. He defiantly summoned the shadows around him to surround him. Suddenly his face contorted into a look of pure horror. Nico fell backwards into the shadows, disappearing into the darkness, fading away, screaming for help. The souls of the dead seemed to be reaching out, draggi__n__g him down and shrieking in delight. "Join us!" they said. "Come be where you belong__!__"_

_The scene shifted. _

_Reyna was being held up by the arms by Noah and Caleb. Claire lay unmoving at her feet, unconscious... or worse. __Reyna__ didn't even put up a fight, and instead she was reduced to tears staring at the body of __her__ friend. Octavian stood a few feet away, cruelly smiling and caressing a sharp knife in his hands. _

_"That's what happens to traitors, Reyna," he shook his head, as if he had even a hint of regret. "Now it's your turn." _

_It was a public execution A surrounding crowd of Roman demigods roared enthusiastically as Octavian took four agonizingly slow steps up to Reyna and gently placed the knife against her chin. Will cried out "No! Stop!" He tried pushing his way to the front of the crowd to no avail. He was trying to get someone, anyone to notice how wrong this was, to stop Octavian. But he was invisible among the sea of Roman legionnaires. _

_Octavian slashed across her neck in one swift motion. Will screamed out as the river of blood poured from the wound before the scene changed again._

_Hazel, crying and screaming as the world collapses around her. Frank, growing weaker each second as a flaming stick burns away in his hands. Piper, desperately grabbing at the hands secured tightly around her neck, gasping for breath. Percy and Annabeth, clutching one another as they fall into endless darkness. The images flashed by quickly, death and pain and despair, one right after the other._

_Then suddenly everything stopped moving. __He was back to his present-day age. This time he stood alone in a desolate field. But he wasn't really alone. He could feel _her _all around him, seeping into his bones, rattling him to the core._

_"Give up, Will, or this is the fate your friends will face." Gaea's voice crept into his mind again. "Don't forget, I have complete control. You may have gotten away once, but you'll never stay away from me forever. I will have you back, Will Solace. And anyone who helped you escape will pay with their lives."_

* * *

><p>"Why don't you two just tell me the truth?"<p>

"Which is...?" Nico questioned Reyna.

"That you're developing a massive crush on him, and he probably feels the same way," Nico opened his mouth to protest but Reyna didn't give him a chance to defend himself. "You can't deny it, Nico. "

Nico frowned. "Oh, right, like you can't deny the way you were making cow eyes Claire. And then you stayed up for two straight days thinking about her."

Reyna gaped. "I did not! I was just worried about her, that's all."

"_Right_," he teased. "It took you a year to compliment my sword fighting skill, and you were just showering her with praise twelve seconds after she bumped into us - which, by the way, really hurt." He exaggeratedly pouted at her for emphasis.

"I said something about it once. Maybe twice, but that's it! And it's only because I remember how awful she used to be when she first got to camp. She's older than when I last saw her, obviously," Reyna said. "And she's extremely brave, braver than I was when I was her age. She's an amazing fighter. Definitely improved from how she used to be. But-"

"_I was just worried about her, that's all_," Nico mimicked, rolling his eyes.

Reyna glowered at him. "Iré a meter mi pie hasta el momento por el culo serás al gusto lo durante una semana."

"I'm going to pretend that was a compliment."

Reyna shook her head and laughed sadly. "What are we even doing here? Talking about feelings and relationships when we have a world to save."

Nico nudged her with his elbow. "Who says we can't do both?"

A strangled cry tore them away from their conversation. Will whimpered loudly in his sleep, tossing and turning. Nico and Reyna were on their feet and at his side immediately.

"Should we wake him up?" Reyna asked.

Nico shook his head. He knelt down and gently pushed the blonde curls from Will's face. At his touch, Will stopped fidgeting and relaxed a bit. After a few more minutes, his dreams ceased entirely and he lay as still and peaceful as ever.

"Wow," Reyna breathed. "How are you doing that?"

"I'm not doing anything special," Nico shrugged. "My mom would hold my hand or hug me close to her and sing me lullabies in Italian when I was little and I had nightmares," He said quietly. "Bianca did it too, when I was a bit older and mom wasn't around. It always helped me calm down. I figured it would work for him too. There's just something soothing about it, the contact combined with the music... That does _not _mean I'm singing for him," he clarified. "I don't sing. That's his whole deal."

They sat in comfortable silence for a long while after that. Occasionally, Will would start fidgeting in his sleep again and Nico would take his hand and slowly rub circles into the back of it with his thumb. Eventually he resigned to letting Will sleep with his head rested in his lap, which seemed to effectively stop the nightmares altogether.

"You're right," Nico said to Reyna sometime later, after the sun had begun to set and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore reduced to a faint splash.

"About what?" she asked.

"Me. And him," Nico replied simply, gazing down at Will's sleeping face.

Reyna smirked. "Oh, I know. I just wanted you do admit it."

Admitting it out loud wasn't even the strangest part. He'd found it weirder that he'd admitted it to himself so easily. For years, he was in denial about who he was and how he felt towards Percy, and it had taken him so long to open up to someone about it. With Will, it seemed much easier, much more natural.

To think, the confused and naive and insufferably annoying demigod boy he'd met a week ago was actually growing on him to the point where he could honestly say he felt something growing between them. Nico wasn't that same ten-year-old hopelessly idolizing someone who'd never love him the same way. It felt liberating.

His thoughts were interrupted by a noise in the distance. He glanced out onto the dark horizon, where we could just barely see a ship breaking the surface of the otherwise calm waves. Standing at the boy of the ship was a young man whose dark hair was tousled by the wind. The ship was traveling at an insane speed; the ocean seemed to be using every wave it could muster to push the ship, like it was being controlled by another force. Which could only mean one thing:

Percy Jackson had arrived.


End file.
